Sand School
by Temari101
Summary: Temari Gaara and Kankuro are orphans. They run away from their old home, come to a little town, and make friends with a bunch of misfits. Can they stop the snobby Ino, and popular kids rule of the school? Tema/Dei Tema/Shika Hina/Kiba Tenten/Neji
1. The New Kids and Year

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

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**Temari P.O.V**

It was warm out and I was on my way to school, it was a junior High/High school, with my two younger brothers Gaara and Kankuro. It was our first day of school in our new town, and I was a little worried about Gaara. He wasn't very good at making new friends. Kankuro and I were a few steps behind Gaara.

"I'm worried about Gaara, what if he doesn't make any new friends?" I whispered to Kankuro.

"He'll be ok," he assured me with a smile, but I still wasn't too sure.

**Kankuro P.O.V**

We all got homerooms when we got to school. But unfortunately Gaara, Temari, and I were in all different grades. I looked over my time table. Everyone was talking to their friends about their summer before the teacher came in. As I sat there wondering how my siblings were doing in their class a kid in the class came up to me. He had his black hair cut in a bowl shape, and was warring all green.

"Hey, I never saw you here before. My name is Lee, what's yours?" He asked me.

"Um... Kankuro," I told him.

"Pleased to meet you Kankuro I hope we get to know each other better," he said smiling and walking over to his two friends.

**Gaara P.O.V**

I walked lonely to my first class. No one paid attention to me, they all pretended that I wasn't even there. In my next class I sat alone we had tables and stools, it was science. The teacher walked in,

"Ok people settle down, my name is professor Kakashi. Now before we get started I'm going to give you a seating plan, because you're such a small class," he told us.

"Aw...," everyone said.

"Now no complaining, stand up and let's get this done with," he said.

I was sitting with a boy with blonde messy, spiky hair, and a boy in a sweater who had brown messy hair. They were chatting away; they must known each other. The teacher was talking about what we were doing this term, and what we would be marked on.

Someone nudged me, "Hey, you're new here right? What's your name?" asked the blonde kid.

"Why do you care," the kid in the sweater said hitting him.

"I was just being nice. Do you always have to be like this," the blonde said.

"I just don't care for new kids," he said rocking on his stool.

"Well you can just screw off then," he said turning to me.

"So, what's your name?" he asked.

"Gaara," I told him.

"Well I'm Naruto, and this is Kiba. It's nice to meet you, I hope we can be friends," he said smiling.

**Temari P.O.V.**

It was my second class that day. There wasn't really anyone interesting in my grade. It was a small school, even though it was junior high/ high school, so you were with the same people in every class. And what really sucked was that we got a seating plan in every class. My second class was math; I didn't real care for it.

What was strange thought was that one boy looked like he should have been in Gaara's grade. Maybe he was just short. He had black hair and it was in a pony tail that stuck up. I got seated behind him, so I decided to bug him a little,

"Hey, kid," he looked at me. "Your kind of short to be in grade 10 don't you think?" I said laughing.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be in grade 8 but have been ahead two grades sense grade 4," he told me. I was surprised, was he really that smart?

"So, what you're saying is your 12 maybe 13 and you are that smart?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just don't put in that much effort in school so they only put me this much ahead. I'm actually pretty bored with this stuff, it's a drag," he said laying his head on his desk.

"Maybe you should start putting in more effort. Then they might put you in a higher grade so you're not so bored," I told him.

"Yeah and get picked on by kids way older than me," he said into his arm.

"So shrimp, what's your name anyways?" I asked him.

"Shikamaru," he said looking at me.

"I'm Temari, nice to meet you," I said smiling at him; he gave a little smile back.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

It was my next class, L.A.; we sat at tables in fours. I was sitting with Lee and his friends. A girl with black hair up in two buns, and a boy with long black hair, also he never had pupil's which was strange.

"Hey Kankuro, we meet again," Lee said smiling.

"Uh... yah," I said looking at his friends.

"Oh yeah, this is Tenten and Neji. Guys this is Kankuro, we met this morning," he told them.

"Hi," Tenten said smiling. For the rest of the class we got to know each other.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I walked with Naruto and Kiba to our next class. As we walked Kiba kept looking at a girl that was in our class. She had short black hair and was really shy; also she had no pupil's.

"Hey Kiba," Kiba looked at Naruto. "You like that girl don't you," Naruto said smirking.

"No I don't," Kiba said angrily and walked ahead passing the girl without even glancing at her.

"That girl is Hinata by the way. Kiba has liked her sans last year. He still denies it though," Naruto said smirking.

"Oh," I said.

"You don't talk much. What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said walking into the class room.

**Temari P.O.V.**

It was L.A. and for some reason even though we were in high school we sat at tables. I guess the teacher just thought we wouldn't cheat, and trusted us, what an idiot.

"Ok, my name is Guy and I will be teaching you this class. And sans I trust you guys I'm going to let you sit ware ever you want," he said smiling. Everyone found a seat. There was only one table left, so Shikamaru and I sat there. Maybe I could get some answers off his stuff; I wasn't very good at this class.

"So how come no one in this class talks to you. I mean they don't talk to me because I'm new, but you?" I asked. He looked at me and then looked away and put his head on the table.

"They think I'm a freak," he said quietly.

"Oh," I said looking away.

"It's ok," he said. "Were friends right, so it's fine."

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"So Kankuro what made you want to come to this school?" Tenten asked me.

"It's the only school me and my brother and sister could go to together. My sister is in grade 10 and my brother is in grade 8," I told her.

"You have a brother and sister, and you're a middle child? That must suck," she said.

"It does some times, but I love my brother and sister there my only family," I said.

"Oh," said Tenten looking sad for us.

"Anyways tell me something about you guys," I said.

Neji was living with his cousin, Hinata in the same class as my brother Gaara, because his parents died when he was young. Tenten was in martial arts and specialized in weapons, while Lee and Neji were good at fighting. It was interesting to find out these things about them.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I sat in the desk in front of Hinata in social. Before the teacher came in a blond girl with her hair up in a long pony tail came up to her.

"Hey Hinata, what do you think of the new kid?" she asked her.

"Um... I don't know Ino," she told her.

"Well I think he is weird. He doesn't talk much, and I hear he is friends with Naruto and Kiba now. Also he has and older brother and sister," she told Hinata. _Great she knows so much about me already. She must be a popular kid, they always know a lot about the new kids before anyone else_.

"Well, um... that's nice Ino. Thanks for telling me," Hinata said giving her a small smile.

"Well I'm off to tell some more people, Sakura too, even if it kills me. I hate her," Ino said in a snobby way.

I turned to Hinata, "She isn't very nice is she," I said.

"Y-You herd?" she asked shyly.

"Yeah," I told her. She blushed and looked away. I looked at her for a second then turned away. I saw Ino walk over to a girl with short pink hair, and they started fighting; _she must be Sakura_.

A while after class started I heard the kid in front of me open a bag of some thing; probably chips.

"Choji," said the teacher. The kid in front of me looked up. "Who said you could eat in class? Lunch is in 10 minutes anyways," the teacher told him.

"I know I'm just really hungry. It's hard only having lunch at school and no snacks," he told him.

"I don't care how hungry you are through that bag of chips out," the teacher told him.

"Yes Mr. Asuma," Choji said getting up and throwing the bag out. _What a weird kid, can't he wait for lunch to eat_.

"I wish Shikamaru was here," he said with a sigh.

"Hey, don't worry Choji we will get to see him at lunch," Naruto said smiling; he sat beside Choji.

"Yah, but it's never been the same sans he got moved up two grades," Choji said sadly as the bell rang.

**Temari P.O.V.**

Shikamaru and I walked down the hallway to the lunch room.

"So ware is the lunch room anyways?" I asked him.

"On the main floor, but we have to go though the seniors hallway to get there the fast way from here," he told me.

"So, what's wrong with that?" I asked.

"Nothing I guess," he said.

When we got to the seniors, grade 12's, hallways ware all their lockers were Shikamaru hesitated for a little while to walk through it.

"Come on," I said going ahead. As we walked though people were whispering and looking at us.

A guy came up to us, "Hey, I haven't seen you here before, you new?" he asked. He had blond hair, and had it sticking up in the back, held in place with a lot of elastics, and at the top it hung over. His bangs were over his left eye, and at first glance I thought he was a girl. Also he was warring leather gloves.

"Come on Temari let's get to the lunch room, ignore him," Shikamaru said.

The boy looked at him, "Why are you hanging out with this shrimp?" he asked me.

"She's in my class," Shikamaru told him.

"Seriously, this girl is only in your grade. The way she dresses makes her look older," he said as three other people walked up. They were all warring long black coats with red clouds on them, including the boy who first talked to me.

"Hey, Deidara what are you doing? We're going to be late. We only have tell lunch is over to practise you know," said a boy with black shoulder length hair and red eyes, which was kind of creepy.

"Sorry Itachi, I was just talking to this girl, but the smart ass cut in. And anyways we can practise in our garages too," Deidara said.

"That's no excuse," said a boy with short messy red hair, kind of like Gaara's.

"I know Sasori, but look at her," he said. Sasori looked around him at me.

"What grade is she in?" a boy with really spiky blue hair asked.

"Smart 000es' grade," said Deidara.

"Really, I thought she was in our grade and just got here," said Sasori. They continued to talk about me, except for Itachi. Shikamaru and I snuck away.

When we got to the lunch room we got in line for our food. After we went and sat at a table that Gaara and Kankuro were at. It seemed like they had made some new friends.

"Hey, Temari how was your morning?" Kankuro asked me.

"Good," I said.

"Who's that with you?" Gaara asked glaring at Shikamaru.

"He's a kid in my class. He was supposed to be in your class, but apparently he got to skip a few grades," I told him, Gaara looked away.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

_It's a good thing that kid is younger then Temari, she'll never go for him. She likes dating guys her age and older after all, and it doesn't look like she met anyone else._

"So who are your guys' new friends there?" Temari asked.

"This is Tenten, Lee, and Neji," Kankuro told her.

"Naruto and Kiba," I said.

"So this is your sister," Tenten said. "She looks much older than the people in her grade."

"It's just because of the way she dresses," said Neji. I was a little mad that they were talking about my sister like that, but it was true. She dressed in really bad clothes for her age.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

_I never really noticed it, but Temari did look older then she was. Maybe that's why she could not only get the guys her age, but older then her too at our old school. She wasn't really into the younger guys, so I knew she wouldn't like that kid in her class she met._

"Hey, she's prettier then Sakura, how come she is sitting with us and not the kids in her grade?" Lee asked looking at Temari for the first time; he was busy on homework before.

I hit him, "Ouch, what was that for," he said, I glared at him.

"Oh... she must be your sister. Sorry," he said going back to his home work. I was glade Temari never heard what he said.

Lee turned to Neji, "Isn't Kankuro's sister hot?" he asked.

"Hey," I said to him before Neji could answer.

"Oh, sorry," Lee said smirking. _I'm going to hurt him if he comments on her again._

"Lee you shouldn't talk about her like that. You're not supposed to talk about your friends siblings," Tenten told him.

"Who was he talking about?" Kiba asked.

"No one," said Neji.

"Fine," he said going back to the conversation he was having with Naruto.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I knew they were talking about me, but I didn't care.

"Hey, I need to go get some books from my locker, I'll see you guys later," I told them.

"Want me to come with you to show you ware to go?" Shikamaru asked.

"No, I can find my way from here I'm sure. I need to know how to get around myself anyways, just in case you get sick," I told him smiling.

"Well ok," he said, and I left the lunch room.

I didn't really need anything from my locker I was just hoping to maybe meet up with Deidara again before lunch was over. But that might not happen; it was a big school after all even though there weren't many kids. I walked down the hallway not knowing where to go. They said they had to practise for something; _maybe they were in a band or something._ _They did say they could practise in a garage, and that's where bands usually practise._ I walked through the halls listening for music. I heard some Rock music coming from a room at the end of the hall. I went to go see who it was. I looked though the window in the door; it was Deidara and the band he was in. The bell rang for lunch to be over, and I had no idea where I was in the school. Itachi, the kid with blue hair, and Sasori walked out of the room. They looked at me,

"Hey what are you doing all the way over here?" asked the kid with blue hair.

"I bet she came to listen to us play," Sasori said staring at me.

"I-"

"Come on guys let's go or will be late for class," Itachi said walking away.

"Fine," said the kid with blue hair. Sasori winked at me as he turned to walk away with Itachi. _These guys are strange._ I didn't like getting hit on by guys. It happened at my old school too; _maybe I should change the way I dress._ _I wish I could date someone my age or younger for once, but they all think I'm too old for them. It's not that I don't like the older guys it's just that you never know what they're going to do sans I'm younger. I'm going to change the way I dress when I get home, probably ware more clothes towards the boyish side, and for my age._

Deidara walked out of the room.

"Hey, what are you doing all the way over here?" he asked.

"I kind of left the lunch room sooner then I should have and without Shikamaru, so I'm kind of lost," I said looking at me shoes.

"Oh, well what class do you have now?" he asked.

"Um... social, with Mr. Asuma," I told him.

"Well I'm late for class already so they won't let me in now, nothing new. So I can take you to your class if you want, I'm sure they will let you in even if you late because your new," Deidara told me.

"Ok, I guess," I said still looking at my shoes. I followed him down the hall.

"You don't say much," he said.

"I um..."

"It's ok you're just shy because you're new here right," Deidara said.

"Um..." I said.

"Or is it just me," he said smiling. I looked away so he didn't see me blush.

"So anyway, how is school here for you so far?" he asked as we took a turn and headed down some stairs.

"It's good," I said. "I made some friends in my younger brother's classes too. Not just that shrimp,"

"What grades are your brothers in?" he asked.

"Grade 9 and 8," I told him.

"So you have a bunch of kids for friends. That's no good, you should get some friends at least your age," he said.

"Yeah, but no one wants to talk to the new kid," I said frowning.

"Well I'm talking to you aren't I," he said smiling. I blushed again turning my head away from him.

We got to the social class room only a few minutes after class started. Deidara knocked on the door, and Asuma opened it. When he saw Deidara he came out of the room and closed the door.

"Why aren't you in class?" he asked not seeing me.

"Well I was putting away my band stuff, and when I came out of the room I saw Temari here," he told him pointing at me.

"Why were you all the way up there?" he asked me.

"I got lost," I told him looking at the floor.

"Well Shikamaru said that he offered to help you get around the school, but you said no," Asuma said.

"Well I thought I knew where I was going, but I guess not. Deidara was nice enough you show me ware to go through," I told him. _Hopefully he won't get in too much trouble for skipping now._

"Well ok, and sans it's your first day here I'll let you into the class. But any other day you won't be able to come in. Also Deidara I'll write you a note so if a teacher sees you in the hall during this hour you won't get in trouble," he told him.

"Thank you sir," Deidara said taking the note and leaving. "Bye Temari," he said waving.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I sat near Kiba and Naruto once again in math class. Sakura was on the other side of the room talking to some kid. I think his name was Sasuke, that's what people were saying anyways. He had short black hair that was spiky in the back.

"I hate you why won't you leave me alone, you and Ino both!" Sasuke yelled. Sakura turned her head and I could see the tears in her eyes. It was kind of funny.

"Sasuke you never yelled before you were always so quit," she said sadly.

"Well people change when they are constantly being bugged by people they hate, you're so annoying," he said to her coldly. I was trying not to laugh; I didn't want to get in trouble, not on the first day anyways.

"Hey Sasuke, if you're going to be mean to her and me, consider yourself no longer a popular kid," Ino yelled at him.

Sasuke smirked, "like I actually liked being in your little group anyways," he told them.

"Fine then loser, you can go hang out with Naruto and the other losers now. Come on Sakura," she said sticking her nose in the air and walking away. I almost couldn't hold in my laugh. I put my head down on my desk to calm down. I could laugh all I wanted tomorrow; I only promised Temari and Kankuro I'd be good for one day. Ino and Sakura walked to the door with their backpacks as the teacher walked in.

"Hey where are you going?" she asked.

"We won't be attending math today, because someone made Sakura cry," Ino told her.

"Well alright then, I'm marking you absent for this class then," she told them.

"That's fine," Ino said walking Sakura out of the room.

As we left the class when the bell rang we walked by Sasuke.

"Good job on making her cry, even if you did get kicked out of their stupid group," I said to him. He watched as Kiba, Naruto, and I walked out of the room.

"I can't believe he would do that to her. I mean I knew he was a jerk, but I didn't know he would be a big enough one to get kicked out of the popular kids group," Naruto said.

"Well it doesn't seem like he cared, and they are annoying," Kiba told him.

"You take that back about Sakura!" Naruto yelled at him.

"Wow touchy, I'm sorry... You like her don't you?" Kiba said smirking.

"Yah," he replied. Kiba laughed. "Hey at least I can actually admit when I like someone, unlike you. I know you like Hinata," Naruto said. Kiba glared at him and then walked ahead.

"He so dose, you can tell just by the way he acts when I say he does," Naruto said grinning.

**Temari P.O.V.**

Shikamaru and I walked out of the classroom.

"You never meant to go to your locker did you. You were looking for those grade 12 boys," Shikamaru said.

"It's none of you biasness ware I went. We only met today, I'm not going to tell you everything," I told him.

"I know that, but I... never mind," he said, he looked to the floor.

"Hey, come on, will become good enough friends soon, and I will tell you things like that" I told him smiling. He gave me a little smile back.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I knew Temari never really went to her locker before lunched ended. Saying that she needs to know where to go without Shikamaru just in case he was sick one day was a bad excuse. _I wonder where she went though. Oh well Shikamaru will ask her that sans she was most likely late for her last class anyways._

"Kankuro you've been quit for the past hour," Neji said.

"So," I said.

"Well you were really talkative before," Tenten said.

"Well maybe I don't want to talk to people who keep talking about my sister the way he did," I told them looking at Lee.

"Oh come on Kankuro I was kidding around," Lee told me.

"Fine, but if it happens again," I said pounding my fist against the palm of my hand.

"Wow, calm down, It won't happen again I promise," he told me.

"Temari never went to her locker did she," Tenten said.

"What of cores she did, that's ware she said she was going didn't she," Lee said.

"You're so naive," Neji told him.

"What, what's that suppose to mean," he said angrily.

"I'm thinking the same as you two, but it doesn't matter. She doesn't like people butting in on her life, so let's just leave her be," I told them. Lee looked confused, but didn't press the matter.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

Our next class was health; I think it was the least favourite class of everyone; at lest we only got it once a week. And what was even worse about it was that we had some old guy teaching it.

"Ok class, my name is Jiraiya and I'll be your health teacher this year. Some of you may know me already from my books. I'm the author of a cretin adult series," he told us. Kiba raised his hand. "Yes young man," he said pointing at him.

"Are you the one who wrote that weird book Kakashi reads?" Kiba asked.

"Yes I am," He replied. "And I'm going to give you all copies of the first one so you won't have to bug him for his. Look in your desks everyone," he told us. Everyone pulled out the book. "Now those are free. Read them and if you still don't understand some things I'll sell you my other ones," Jiraiya told us. "Now before you start I'm going to give you a short talk on some things so you understand what is going on in the book. Will start with body parts," he told us. It was sick listening to a guy in his 50's talk about this stuff. As he talked Naruto and I saw Kiba staring at Hinata.

"Hey, Kiba what are you thinking about, looking at Hinata during this class," Naruto said smirking. Kiba glared at him and then turned to look at the Jiraiya. Naruto laughed.

"Who laughed? Do you guys think this is funny? It took me many years of research to get all this information, so if you're not going to be matcher enough to listen you can leave, and leave the book behind too," Jiraiya told us. No one moved, "Ok let's carry on then."

"Well that was an existing class hey Kiba, and now you have your own book you won't have to steel Kakashi's anymore," Naruto laughed.

"Hey it was only one time, and I only read half of it," Kiba told him angrily.

"Hey I was just kidding," he told him.

"So what did you think Gaara?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not going to even read the book, my brother and sister would never let me. Also I don't want to read a perverted book made by a pervert in his 50's," I told them.

"Well you're no fun," he said.

**Temari P.O.V.**

As I walked to my next class I saw Gaara, he was holding a book.

"Hey Gaara, what book you reading?" I asked.

"Nothing," he told me hiding it.

"Help me get it from him," I told Shikamaru in a wispier.

"Come on Gaara let me see it," I said.

"No," he said. While I was distracting him, Shikamaru grabbed it. He laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Hey," Gaara said as Shikamaru showed me the cover. I was shocked,

"Gaara where did you get this?" I asked.

"I wasn't going to read it I swear," he said.

"I said ware did you get it Gaara," I told him.

"The health teacher, he gave everyone one," he told me. Kiba and Naruto hid theirs.

"Well you're not going to read it," I told him.

"I was going to show you after school," he said.

"Kids your age shouldn't be reading this stuff," I told them.

"I only read half of Kakashi's when I stole it," Kiba blurted out, then covered his mouth.

"But Jiraiya said it took lots of research to get the information for him to write it, and that he was going to give us a test on the book and what we learned today in a few weeks. Also he said if we fail the test or have any questions he was going to let us buy and read his other books," Naruto said.

"So, this is not an age appropriate book and Gaara's not going to be reading it. I don't care what you two do," I told them. I put the book in my backpack. "I'll be talking to Jiraiya too," I said, walking away.

"You sound like a mom," Shikamaru said.

"Well I have to be some times, seeing as we don't have parents," I said angrily.

"Oh, sorry," he said.

"And Gaara and Kankuro act like dad's to me when it comes to boys. Gaara was ready to tare you to shreds when he saw you with me at lunch," I told him.

"What made him change his attitude?" he asked.

"The fact that you're younger than me," I told him.

"Oh," he said looking away sadly.

"Anyways, it's good that we have health next. I can talk to Jiraiya about this book," I said.

We walked into the class room.

"Could I speak to you outside?" I asked Jiraiya.

"Uh... sure," he said.

"It's about this book," I said pulling it out of my bag. "I took it from my little brother who just had this class, and he said you gave it to everyone," I said.

"I did," he told me.

"You know those kids are only in grade 8 right?" I asked.

"Yes I do," he said.

"Well then why did you give them this book? It's not age appropriate at all," I told him.

"Well isn't it better for these kids to learn the stuff in the book at a younger age?" he asked.

"No, they might go out and actually do some of this stuff," I told him.

"Oh, so you read it then?" Jiraiya asked.

"No, but I heard things about it, and this is not the kind of book I want my little brother to read," I told him.

"You're new here aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes, but-"

"How about we go grab a drink and talk more about this in a nice environment," he said smiling.

"Um... no thank you," I said backing into the classroom. Then turning around and taking a seat by Shikamaru.

"How'd it go?" he asked quietly.

"He wasn't even listening to me about how the book was bad. He was just staring at my chest, and then he asked if I wanted to go have a drink with him and talk about it in a better environment," I told him shuddering.

"What a pervert, and we can't even do anything about it either," he told me.

"Why not," I asked.

"Because all he will get is a talking to, that won't stop anything. And he can't get fired because were low on teachers," he told me sadly.

At the end of class we all got the same book Gaara did. "Well I guess there is no stopping him. Kankuro is going to get one too, so I might as well give Gaara his book back to read," I said shuddering. I wrote a note saying he could read it, and put it in the book. When I saw Gaara in the hallway going to his locker, it was the end of the day, I gave it to him.


	2. Friends, Pranks, and Love?

**Hey Guys, here is Chapter 2. Sorry if you think that the first 2 chapters are kind of long lol, Chapter 3 is kind of really shorter compared to these 2. I'm almost done looking over Chapter 3 (the best I can) and It will be up soon (probably today) Also don't forget to Review or comment (whatever) because if there is something that I need to improve on I need to know. Thanks and Enjoy :p

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**Gaara P.O.V.**

We were walking to school. It was our second day there, and we were all quiet. Kankuro and Temari had a fight last night, and I was kind of stuck in the middle. It was about Temari running off by herself at lunch, and also about her saying I was allowed to read the book we got from Jiraiya. I wasn't even going to read the book anyways, and I was trying to tell them that but they never heard me. Also Kankuro was mad that she was late for class; _they are starting to sound like parents._ _We had parents, and there gone now we don't need more. I mean I may get mad when I see Temari with a boy, but I'm just trying to protect her from the sick people out there. ...Oh god I sound like a parent too. Anyways, Temari made us go shopping. She bought a lot of new clothes, I don't know how she got the money for it, but she is a whole new person now. She doesn't dress like she is older; as in short skirts and inappropriate shirts. She is warring tomboy clothes now. I think that is better then what she had before, and now I won't have to worry as much about what guy's she is with; I can stop being a parent._

**Temari P.O.V.**

At school Shikamaru was waiting for me at my locker; it was right by Gaara's and Kankuro's lockers

"You didn't have to wait for me," I told Shikamaru.

"Yeah, but I don't have anything better to do," he told me with a smile. "By the way, you look different," he said.

"Yeah, I decided I like this type of clothes better," I said as I grabbed my backpack with all my books and stuff for my classes. "Bye Gaara see you at lunch or in the hallways," I said smiling.

"Bye," he said.

"Oh, and bye Kankuro," I said closing my locker and walking away with Shikamaru.

"What's wrong did you and Kankuro have a fight or something?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, he just seems to butt into my life that's all. Also he is mad that I said Gaara could read that book, but it's for health and he'll be tested on it. I have to let him read it or he will fail," I said angrily.

"Well he got the book too didn't he? If Gaara can't read it then you should take it away from him too," he told me.

"No, that will just cause more problems. It's better if we just don't bring it up again," I told him.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I was so happy as I walked to homeroom. I only had to be good for one day and that was yesterday. I could be as bad as I wanted for the rest of the year, and Temari and Kankuro can't do anything about it. Being nice isn't my thing; even though it got me some new friends.

I saw Sasuke in the hallway going to homeroom. As I was going to walk by he stopped me.

"Hey, you know that comment you mad yesterday about me making that girl cry? Were you being sarcastic?" he asked.

"No, I like to see people in pain. I was having a hard time stopping myself from laughing when you were being mean to her. I'm kind of a trouble maker," I told him smirking.

"Well if you're such a trouble maker, then why were you so quit yesterday?" he asked.

"I promised my brother and sister I would be good for one day. So I would at least not get kicked out on the first day," I told him.

"So I should watch out for you today then, hey?" he asked.

"Yeah, you might be one of the people that get hurt today. Innless you want to team up and get someone," I told him.

"How about Sakura, she is so annoying," he said.

"All right, but if you hate her that much why don't you just push her off the roof of the school," I said smirking.

"You think that would work?" he asked.

"I don't know, I was kidding. But if you want to you can, you might just get kicked out of the school though," I told him.

"Who cares as long as that girl is gone," he said smirking.

"I like how you think," I said as we walked into homeroom.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"Hey Kankuro, over here," Tenten said as I walked into the room. As I walked over to Lee, Neji, and her I saw them reading the book we got in health class.

"You're actually reading that?" I asked.

"Well if we're going to get marked on it, then we might as well read it," Neji said not moving his eyes from the book.

"Yeah and we can't read it at home or show our parents. They will be all over the school and Jiraiya for telling us to," Lee told me, he never moved his eyes from the book either. I looked at Tenten.

"I finished it last night. My parents were gone out for dinner," she told me. "So are you going to read it?"

"I don't know, I guess sans Temari is letting Gaara read it I might as well. Pulse if we're going to have a test then I have to," I told her.

"So you're not going to complain about Temari letting Gaara read it anymore then?" Neji asked.

"I guess not," I told them.

"Oh my God," Lee said.

"What?" I asked.

"I just found out why this book is for adults," he told us.

"Your only there? I'm almost done," Neji told him.

"Well sorry if I can't read as fast as you," he said.

"Guys put the book away the teacher is coming, and were not suppose to read those types of books in school," Tenten told them. Lee and Neji put the books away.

**Temari P.O.V.**

It was options, there were 3 options at the same time, and Shikamaru and I were in different ones. Also grades 10, 11, and 12 had the same options all at the same time; I was in art. I fallowed the rest of the kids that were in art to the class. When I got there, there was only one seat left. I walked to the seat and sat down, it was right beside Deidara and Sasori.

"Hey, is that the girl that we thought was in our grade yesterday, and then was outside ware we were practising?" Sasori asked in a whisper to Deidara, but I could still here him.

"I think so; she looks different in those clothes," he whispered back.

"Yeah, but she is still hot," Sasori whispered to Deidara.

"You know I can hear you," I told them staring at my desk.

"Oh, uh... hi," Deidara said, I looked up at him.

"Yeah, hi you look way better in those clothes," Sasori said winking at me. I looked back at my desk.

"So um... how's your band?" I asked them.

"It's going good," Deidara told me.

"Hey, why don't you come listen to us practise at lunch," Sasori said.

"Um... sure," I told him.

"You can bring that kid too if you want," Deidara told me.

"Are you serous Deidara? Do we really want that smart 000 listening to our music? He probably won't like it anyways," Sasori told him.

"Its ok guys, I won't bring him. And I'll eat fast so I can get there on time to hear you guys; I know where to go now; and then leave a little earlier to get to class on time," I told them.

"Oh good, I thought you were going to bring him. Also we have food ware the band practises, so you don't even have to go to lunch. You can just come to our lockers ahead of that kid and then come with us to practise," Sasori told me.

"Ok, I guess," I told them.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"So your new friend is a jerk," Naruto told me.

"It's not my fault we both like to see people in pain," I told him.

"Yeah I know he likes to see people in pain. We use to be friends and then he went and joined the popular kids, and left me behind. Then he went and made Sakura cry and got kicked out. I don't want to hang out with him again," he said sticking his noise in the air.

"Well if you're not going to hang out with us then you'll be one of the people who we bully," I told him.

"We get to bully people? I'm in," Kiba said.

"Well that's three out of four. Are you sure you want to be bullied instead of bully other people?" I asked him.

"Fine I'm in, but only because I was your friend first," Naruto told me.

"Good, now sans I already got kicked out of one school one more isn't that bad. So if I'm with you, and we do something together I'll take all the blame," I told them.

"Ok, that seems fair," Sasuke said.

"Oh yah, but when you push Sakura off the roof of the school, I'm not taking the blame for it," I told him.

"Don't worry you won't have to. I want all the credit for that," he told me.

"What, you're going to push Sakura off the roof of the school!" Naruto yelled.

"SHH, don't get so loud, the popular kids will hear," Sasuke told him. Naruto gave him a dirty look.

"Don't pay attention to Naruto, he likes Sakura," Kiba told him.

"Once again, at least I can admit it," Naruto said smirking.

"What's that suppose to mean?" he asked.

"You know very well what it means," he said.

"I'll see you guys in class," Kiba said walking ahead of us.

We got to class and took our seats, it was science class. "Today we will be doing an experiment. I know it's only the second day, but it will only be a small one to get ready for the rest of the year," professor Kakashi told us. This is perfect, I can mess up the experiment and not get in trouble because it is the first one this year. We got all our things and professor Kakashi told us how much to put of what in it. "Now this is a more challenging experiment then what I usually give. It is a high school experiment, but I want to see if you guys can do it. If you can without messing it up we will do these ones a lot this year for fun," he told us. I smirked,

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked.

"He trusted us with these dangerous chemicals," I told him.

"Maybe we should "accidently" spill some," Kiba said.

"Don't give Gaara any ideas," Naruto told him.

"To late," I said knocking over the chemical. "Professor Kakashi, I accidently spilt some stuff!" I yelled for him as it burned though the table. He came over to us, and cleaned it up.

"I guess we are going to have to buy a new table," professor Kakashi said. "But you will have to work here for now." Then he went to go help some other people. A few minutes later Naruto was mixing the chemicals trying not to put too much in it.

"Hey Naruto, Sakura is looking at you," I told him.

"What, where is she?" he asked looking away. I pushed his arm up and the chemical poured in.

"Hey," he said looking back as the mixture started to smoke.

"Uh oh," he said and the mixture blew up in his face. Professor Kakashi yelled at everyone to leave the room. When we got out of the room Kiba and I started laughing like crazy.

"So you boys think that was funny? Someone could have gotten hurt. Also my book got wrecked, it was the first one in the series" professor Kakashi told us.

"No problem I have another one," I told him handing him the book.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"Do you want it, or do you want to ask questions," I said.

"Fine you're off the hook this time for the lab, but next time you won't get off so lucky," he said flipping though the book.

"That was the funniest thing I've ever seen in that class," Kiba said.

"Yeah, good job Gaara," Sasuke said.

"I didn't think it was that funny," Naruto said.

"That's only because it exploded in your face," I told him.

"True," he said.

"So how are you supposed to pass health now? You gave professor Kakashi your book," Kiba said.

"I was never going to read it, I told you that already," I said.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"So how was art class?" Shikamaru asked me.

"Good," I said. "I made some new friends."

"Who," he asked.

"None of your biasness, I might tell you who later. Oh and I'm eating lunch with them, so don't wait for me," I told him.

"Why, aren't you going to eat in the lunch room?" he asked.

"No, not really," I told him.

"Oh, where are you going to eat?" he asked.

"Well aren't you nosy," I said.

"No, it's just that... never mind," he said looking to the floor, I laughed.

"So being with grade 10's, 11's, and 12's for options was kind of weird, hey?" I said he looked up.

"Yeah, Kisame was in my class. He kept asking where you were, and bugging me," he told me. _He must be the blue haired kid._

"Oh, that's too bad, and you will be putting up with him once a week for a while," I said.

"Yeah, so any of those guys that were bugging us the other day in your class?" he asked.

"Only two of them," I said.

"Who," he asked. "

Deidara and Sasori," I said.

"So they were probably trying to hit on you then?" he asked.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked smirking.

"No reason," he said once again looking to the floor.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"So I hear your little brother almost blew up the science lab, and he burnt a hole in one of the tables," Tenten told me.

"Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me," I told her.

"Your brother is a bad kid isn't he," Neji said.

"Yep," I told him.

"So how much trouble do you think he is going to get in this year?" Lee asked.

"He'll probably get kicked out before school is even over," I told him. "How do you guys find this stuff out anyways?" I asked.

"There are popular kids in every grade, so as soon as something happens they tell the first person they see and pretty soon the whole school knows," she said.

"So who is the popular one in this class?" I asked.

"Me," she said. "But I don't act like it, other whys I wouldn't be hanging with you guys."

"So what's the reason you want to be around us and not the popular kids?" Lee asked.

"I don't know," she said looking at Neji.

Lee smirked, "You like him don't you," he said.

"Who," I asked.

"No one," Lee said.

"That's right no one," Tenten said.

"Huh, did I miss something," Neji asked.

"If you did then I did too, because I have no idea what their talking about either," I told him.

"No you didn't miss anything important, just that Tenten-"

"Shut up Lee," Tenten said hitting him. Neji and I looked at each other confused.

After class Lee told Neji and Tenten to go up ahead, and me to stay back for a bit. After Tenten and Neji were a bit ahead we started walking to our next class.

"You looked confused back there before we got to class. So I wanted to tell you what was going on without Tenten knowing, and Neji can't hear," Lee said.

"Ok, what?" I asked.

"Well Tenten won't admit it but she has this huge ass crush on Neji and she doesn't want anyone to know. But I do and I just wanted to tell you so you're not confused anymore. But don't tell Neji, I'm not mean enough to tell him," Lee told me.

"Ok, I won't and I won't even let on that I know or that you told me," I said.

"Ok, that's good. Thanks," he said.

"So why did you guys hang back for a while?" Tenten asked.

"No reason, I just needed to talk to him," Lee told her.

She glared at him. "Whatever he said isn't true," she told me.

"How would you know, you weren't there," I told her.

"Yeah, but I know it was about me. Am I right," she said staring me down.

"Ok, yes it was about you," I said.

"Kankuro," Lee said.

"Sorry, she was scaring me," I told him. "But Tenten I think what he told me is true," I told her.

"What, I'm lost," Neji said.

"Never mind let's just stop talking about it," Lee said.

"Stop talking about what?" Neji asked.

"Never mind," said Tenten as the teacher walked in.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"Finally, its lunch," I said.

"Yeah, so I'll be seeing you after lunch then?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yep, bye Shika," I said.

"What?" he said turning red.

"Oh, sorry I meant Shikamaru, Shika is just shorter," I said.

"Oh," he said walking away.

"Bye!" I yelled at him.

"Hmm, oh yeah, bye," he said.

When I got to the room where the band practises I knocked on the door.

"Who is that?" I heard someone say.

"Sasori and I invited that girl Temari over to listen to us play," said Deidara.

"Really, oh my god, let's let her in," said another person.

"Fine, Deidara go open the door," said a voice. Deidara come and opened the door.

"Hey Temari, come on in," he said, walked in.

It was a normal sized room with some chairs in rows facing a stage where they had their band stuff set up. Above the stage was a banner that said The Akatsuki's, it was painted black and had red clouds on it.

"So is that your band name?" I asked looking at the banner.

"Yeah, it is," Sasori answered.

"Is that really the girl from yesterday?" Kisame asked.

"Yeah," Sasori told him.

"She doesn't look as hot as yesterday," he told him.

"I know," Sasori replayed. I looked at them and then went in the back row to the seat at the end.

"Oh come on guys, I still think she looks good," Deidara said. I blushed and put my face in my hands.

"She is, I know, but I just like girls that dress, you know, with small skirts and revelling shirts," Kisame said.

"Yeah, me too," Sasori said.

"Well then the only girls you're going to get are 000000s aren't you," Deidara told them.

"Yeah, I guess," Kisame said.

"See I don't care what the girl wares, even though I thought the thing Temari was warring yesterday was hot, I care about the girl is like on the inside. Like her personality, and if she is nice," Deidara said. My face was still in my hands and it was getting redder.

"Well that's you, you're just nice to everyone, even the people that are mean to you," Sasori said.

"Yeah, if you want Temari you can have her," Kisame told him.

"Well I don't know about that," he said. I looked up at him, I wasn't blushing anymore. "I mean she might not want me you know, I can't just have her. I would have to ask her first and then see if she says yes," he said looking at me and winking. I had to hide face again because I was blushing again.

"Ok guys enough of this. We need to practise remember, we have a gig on the weekend," Itachi reminded them.

"Oh yeah," Sasori said. And they got on stage and played. Itachi was on drums, Sasori was base guitar, and Kisame was electric guitar. Deidara was the singer. They were really good.

After they were done their first 3 songs I looked at the clock.

"Um... guys I have to go or I'll be late for class," I told them.

"Really," Sasori said.

"Yeah, I was late yesterday because I got lost, and my class is on the other side of the school down stairs," I told him.

"Oh, Deidara didn't even come to first class after lunch yesterday, even though we all left at the same time. But when I looked for him he wasn't there," Kisame told me.

"Funny story, I was with Temari showing her ware to go because she was lost," Deidara told them.

"Oh, well I guess that makes sans, I mean who wouldn't want to help her yesterday," Kisame said.

"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked.

"Oh nothing," he said.

Deidara gave him a dirty look. "Hey Temari, do you want me to walk with you to class?" he asked.

"You can't go, we need to practise," Kisame told him.

"All I do is sing, and I can practise that whenever, and we do practise a lot," he told him.

"But," Sasori said.

"Let him go," Itachi said, everyone looked at him. "He doesn't need to practise singing," he told them.

"Fine," Sasori said, and Deidara and I left the room.

"You know you didn't need to come with me," I told Deidara.

"I know, but I wanted too. Don't you want company?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess," I said blushing and turning away from him.

"So, are you going to where the type of clothes you did yesterday anytime soon?"

I looked at him, "No, why?" I asked.

"No reason, I just don't want sick guys like them to try to hit on you anymore. I like these clothes better than your other ones," he told me. I blushed and looked away from him again. "You sure are shy," he said.

"Not really," I told him.

"Oh, so it's just me?" he asked. I started to blush more.

"Maybe," I said.

"And you're blushing a lot too," he said. I stopped and put my face in my hands.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," I told him. He bent down and moved my hands from my face; I was really red.

He laughed, "You like me don't you?" he asked. I took my hands away from him, turned around and put my face back in my hands. "Hey, it's ok. I like you too Temari," he said. I looked up at him, he was smiling. We looked into each other's eyes.

I got to class just in time this time, and I was all smiles. Shikamaru looked at me like he was suspicious of something.

"Why are you so happy? What happened during lunch?" he asked.

"Nothing..." I told him.

"Oh common, something happened," he said.

"May...be..." I said.

"So where did you go anyways?" he asked.

"To where The Akatsuki's practise for their band," I told him.

"Oh, so now you trust telling me where you went. Why didn't you say before?" he asked.

"Because, I didn't want you fallowing me to make sure they wouldn't hit on me," I told him.

"So you like them doing that?" he asked.

"Well only one of them," I told him.

"Who," he asked.

"Why do you want to know? Are you going to go kill him?" I asked smirking.

"Maybe," he said so I could barely hear it.

I smiled, "awe, well its Deidara," I told him.

"Oh," he said sadly as the teacher walked in.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"Hey, hey, Kankuro did you hear?" Tenten asked running up to me after class.

"Hear what?" I asked.

"Your sister and Deidara, in grade 12, were kissing in the hallway up stairs. The person said that Deidara was walking her to class," she told me out of breath.

"WHAT," I yelled.

"Oh common, be happy for her," Lee said.

"Yeah, at least she has someone," Neji said glancing at Tenten.

"Yeah Kankuro, and don't worry he is really nice," Tenten told me.

"Well he better not get too nice," I said angrily. Lee looked at me and shook his head.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

As I walked to my next class with Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke and I saw Kankuro. We stopped to talk to him.

"Hey, Kankuro what's up," I asked.

"Nothing, just that Temari is getting a little friendly with a guy in grade 12 named Deidara," he told me angrily.

"WHAT," I said.

"See that's what Kankuro did," Lee said.

"You guys shouldn't be too shocked, you did say she dated lots of older guys before," Naruto said.

"Yeah, I guess. I just thought she would have learned her lesson form the last time," I said.

"Why, what happened?" Tenten asked.

"Oh nothing, he just cheated on her with an older girl then him. Then he tried to make it up to her by inviting her over, but she knew what he wanted and broke up with him," Kankuro told her.

"Yeah, she was crying so much. It was horrible," I said.

"Well we need to get to class, bye Gaara, Kiba, Naruto, and Sasuke," Kankuro said walking away and waving.

"Bye guys," I said walking to my class.

"So what are we going to do in this class?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know there isn't much to do in math," I told him.

"I know how about we switch seats every time the teacher looks away," Naruto said.

"Good thinking, we are seated in practically a line. But the person on the end will have to go to the seat on the other end fast. And once we sit in our seat again, we will stay there. The teacher will be so paranoid after this," I told them as the teacher came in.

We started class in our normal seats, because the teacher was looking at the seating plan. Then once she turned around we moved over a seat or 2; depending on where the other person sat.

"Hey, Kiba weren't you there? And Sasuke weren't you on the other side of the room? And what," the teacher said. I raised my hand, the teacher pointed to me.

"Um... how can four people just change spots that fast?" I asked.

"I don't know, I guess I'm just imagining things," she said. She turned back to the board. We moved over again. "Ok now I know Kiba was just over on that side," she said.

"No, I was always here," he said.

"Ok, Fine," she said with a sigh. A while later she turned back around and then back to us really fast, we knew it was coming so we didn't move. She shrugged and faced to board again, so we moved. "Ok Naruto 2 minutes ago you were over there, what happened?" she asked.

"Nothing I was here, I think you're losing it," he said.

"I can't get mad at you for saying that, because I'm thinking that too," she said.

After ten minutes we were back in our regular seats, and the teacher was out of her mind. She kept turning back to look at us, but we stayed in our seats; even though we got the whole class moving when she turned.

"That's it I can't take this, it's only the second day and I'm already going mad. First those four were moving but they really weren't, and now the whole class is moving and there staying still. AHHH," she yelled and ran out of the room. After a while the whole class started to laugh.

"We not only made he go mad, but we got the whole class to help. Were good," Kiba said.

"It's a good thing we did it today, or else it would have never worked, she would have had the seating plain memorized," I said.

"That was the best idea ever, good job Naruto," Kiba said patting him on the back.

There were 3 minutes left of class, and the teacher came back in with the principle.

"Oh no, it's Tsunade," Kiba said.

"Who," I asked.

"The principle," Naruto said. "And Kiba should know her well, he went to see her lots last year, he was a bad boy, still is."

"Not funny man, she is scary," he told Naruto.

"Oh well, she is going to have to get the whole class in trouble if she does get anyone in trouble," he said.

"Not if we play our cards right," Sasuke said.

Tsunade and the teacher turned and faced the board. I saw Tsunade looking at the class though the corner of her eye. A few people moved then more, and then the whole class. But we stayed where we were. They turned around,

"Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, and Hinata you may leave for you next class now," she told us. We did as she said and got up and left.

"Hah, best prank ever," Kiba said.

"Yeah, the teacher thinks she has gone mad, and everyone but us gets in trouble. Best thing you ever thought of Naruto," Sasuke told him.

"Thanks," he said.

"Well I'm sure they are all going to get mad at us after though sans we started it," Gaara said.

"Does that mean they are going to be mad at me too, because I got to leave?" asked a shy quit voice.

We turned around, "Oh, Hinata didn't see you there," Naruto said.

She blushed, "Oh, um... that's ok," she said.

"And don't worry Hinata I'm sure they won't be mad at you. You never did it at all," Kiba said smiling. Naruto smirked at him.

"Oh shut up," Kiba said walking ahead of us.

"What's wrong with Kiba?" Hinata asked.

"Nothing," I told her.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"I just heard what happened between you and Deidara," Shikamaru said jealously.

"Oh," I said.

"Yeah, the people beside me in the last class were talking about it. You're what everyone is talking about," he told me.

"Well I don't care, I met someone I like, and I don't care what people say about us," I told him.

"Yeah of cores you choose a guy who was hitting on you in the hallway because he thought you looked good in 0000 clothes," he said angrily.

"So, I changed my whole wardrobe, and he likes them better," I told him. "It's his friends that like the other clothes."

"The only reason he saw you the first time was because of your clothes," he said.

"No, it's because he wanted to pick on you and I was there, and you were lucky I was or else he would have bugged you more than he did," I told him. He turned away from me.

"Well if you like him, and will kiss him, even though he picks on me, your friend, then maybe we shouldn't be friends, you might turn into a bully like him and pick on me too. I have lots of friends other then you if you didn't know, it doesn't matter if there in other grades," he said angrily.

"Fine, but just so you know, even if we're not friends anymore, I won't stoop so low as to pick on you," I said walking away from him.

_I hate jealousy. Why can't people be grateful for a person once in a while, instead of being jealous that a person is better than them at something or got something they wanted? The world would be a better place that way, and I wouldn't have lost a really good friend. But I'm serious about not picking on him; it doesn't matter if we're not friends anymore or not. If I was at my old school and my boyfriend picked on one of my friends I would have joined in and my friend would have put up with it, or stopped being my friend. But I'm different now, thanks to Shikamaru. He showed me what a real friend is, and I'm going to repay him for that one day. But right now it's best for us to stop being friends. Maybe he will think about what just happened and what he did because of jealousy. I hope he will come to his senses soon._

I walked into my next class alone, everyone was looking at me. One girl came up to me and said good job for getting Deidara. Apparently every girl in school wants him. _I might get some new enemies now, But I won't do what I did at my old school too my enemies here. I could have been shunned from all the school in most places for it. But luckily no one saw or heard about what I did._ _Gaara and I were bad kids; Kankuro always had to make sure we were out of trouble. But sans I was older I kept telling him he wasn't my dad and couldn't tell me what to do. Gaara would just laugh at Kankuro and then I would help him do a prank on him. But the thing is Kankuro could have left any time, I could have taken care of Gaara; I was supposed to be the one in charge, but Kankuro saw I couldn't handle it. He was the mature one. I guess we were just angry about what happened to our parents, and scared that we were going to get caught, by the people who knew we were orphans, and take us in to get a new family. We didn't want that. That's why we moved here, no one knows us here and the other people won't come all the way here to look for us. I'm just worried about Gaara; he might get kicked out of this school too, like both of us did the last one. I hope he will learn to behave. I mean it took me a while, but I'm good now._

The bell rang for the end of the day. I walked to my locker not waiting for Shikamaru. _If he comes to his senses then I might be his friend again; if he says sorry first, he started the fight._

I got to my locker, "hey Temari, where is Shikamaru?" Kankuro asked.

"We got in a fight over Deidara. You probably already know him and what happened, everyone is talking about," I told him.

"Yeah we all do, even Gaara. We were kind of mad when we heard, but you had lots of older boyfriends and you know how they turned out. So I'm not going to butt in, you know what is best for you," he told me.

"Oh, well thank you," I said. Gaara ran up to me.

"How could you. I thought you learned your lesson," he said pounding his fist on a locker.

"Gaara you're sounding like a dad. And I did learn a lesson, that all the guys that like you because of the way you dress are jerks. And don't worry, if this one doesn't work out then I won't date older guys," I told him.

"Ok, as long as you won't be up crying every night if it doesn't like last time," he said grabbing his bag and closing his locker.

"Ok, let's go," I said.

"Don't you want to wait for Shikamaru and walk a little ways home with him, sans he goes the same way we do?" Gaara asked.

"No," I said coldly walking towards the doors.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"What's wrong with her?" Gaara asked me.

"She and Shikamaru had a fight about Deidara. He is probably jealous," I told him.

"That she is dating him? Is he gay?" Gaara asked me.

I laughed, "No, he is jealous that Deidara gets to date her."

"Oh, so he likes her too then?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Ok, so that means when it doesn't work out I have to hurt Deidara, and then I have to hurt Shikamaru for liking her," he said. I laughed some more and shook my head.


	3. Sasuke's Idea, Tentan and Neji?

**See I told you guys I would have Chapter 3 up today. I'm fast eh.

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**Temari P.O.V**

For the next few days Shikamaru and I never talked to each other, if possible. _I really hate not talking to him, but it's his fault._ I saw Deidara a lot the rest of the week; he made fun of Shikamaru every time he could, but I never joined in.

"What's wrong, I thought you said he wasn't your friend anymore," Deidara told me as once again I never joined in with the teasing, and instead gave Shikamaru an "I'm sorry" look as we walked to the band practise place.

"He isn't, I'm just not mean enough to tease him, he use to be my friend," I told him.

"So I'm mean now?" he asked.

"Yeah, you kind of are," I said looking away from him.

"Oh, well I just wanted to clarify that. I know I'm mean anyways; no matter how nice people think I am, but it's only because my friends are around. If it was just you and me I'd be nice to him," he said sadly.

We got to the room were the band practises before everyone else.

"Hey, we been going out for a while and we only kissed once," Deidara said.

"Yeah, so," I asked. I knew what was coming next.

"Well sans no one is here..." he said getting closer to me. I started blushing and turned to him.

After the band was done practising Deidara walked me to class again. I never said anything to him for a while.

"Why are you so quit now? You're never quit," he told me.

"No reason," I told him. "Hey!" I yelled.

He laughed, "Sorry I'm just kidding," he said.

"I know," I told him as I walked into the class.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"We only have two classes left and we never even did anything today," Kiba complained.

"Sure we did. We did math, and science, and..."

"That's not what I mean Naruto," he told him.

"Oh," Naruto said.

"Well our next class is health, and it's a locker brake. So if we get there now we could steel all Jiraiya's books," Sasuke suggested.

"That's a good idea. Let's hurry and get there," I said starting to run with the others close behind.

When we got there we took all the copies of the books, and hid them around the class.

"Hey Gaara, I found the new book he is writing," Kiba yelled to me from Jiraiya's desk.

"We should steel that too," Sasuke told me.

"Take it Kiba and hide it quick," I yelled to him.

"I don't think that's a good idea guys," Naruto said.

"You're such a loser," Kiba said.

"Am not," he said looking away angrily, "I'm just coshes."

"Yeah, too coshes," Sasuke laughed.

"Ok guys that's enough class will start soon. Kiba did you hide the new book he is righting?" I asked.

"Yep, it will take him a while to find it," he told me.

"Good, now let's get out of the room until everyone else comes," I told them, and we raced out of the room.

When we went into the class with everyone else Jiraiya was searching franticly for something. He looked up and saw us come in and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Kiba asked him hiding his smirk.

"I can't find my books or the book that I'm writing," he told him turning to the class. "Everyone help me find my books!" He told the class. We spent the rest of the block looking for them. Of cores we never looked were they actually were, and we tried to steer people away from them.

After class was over Jiraiya was really mad. He said he would make sure the person who hid his books would be expelled. But if he ever dose find out and try to expel us we would get him fired, because he isn't suppose to let us read those books anyways. It may take him a while but he will eventually find them, and we should have fun not having health class for a few days.

"I wonder when he will find everything," Naruto said.

"Who cares as long as it isn't any time soon," Sasuke told him.

"The only thing is, is that as soon as Temari's or Kankuro's class has health they will find a lot of the books," I told them.

"We'll let them find some, it will still take a while," Kiba said.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

We got to health class and right off the bat Jiraiya yelled at us. It was something about someone steeling his books and hiding them or something, and that we had to search the whole class room, even though the other class did, until someone found them; even if they weren't in the room at all.

"I bet your brother did this," Neji told me.

"Yeah I think you're right, him and his friends," I said.

"Well can't you just ask were they put them?" Lee asked.

"No, why would he tell me. He probably did this to get out of health for the next few days, and then him and his friends will get them and look like the good guys," I told him.

"Well this is tiring and boring, I don't want to look for his stupid books," Tenten complained.

"Yeah knowing you, you probably want to do health class," I said.

"Not really, I just don't want to do this," she said.

Half way though class Jiraiya left do go do something. By the time he got back almost the whole class had stopped looking and was taking a break.

"Hey who said you kids could stop looking, I only said I was leaving for a bit. That doesn't give you the right to take a break!" he yelled at us.

"But were sick of looking," the people sitting down told him.

"I don't care, get back to work I need these books found!" he yelled, and everyone got scared and started looking again.

After class everyone was tired and happy to go home.

"Wow our class is kind of lazy, I mean it didn't take that much work," I said.

"I know we could have just sat looking in the same place the whole time," Lee said.

"Well I for one am tired, and I don't want to walk home. But I have to," Tenten said.

"No you don't, we go the same way and your house is closer," Neji told her.

"So, you're walking too so how does that mean I don't have to," she told him.

"Well, if you want I guess I could carry you home. But only if you're that tiered," he said. Tenten blushed.

"Thank you Neji, I would like that," she told him.

"Ok, meet you outside," he said running off to his locker. Lee and I watched them go in different directions. Lee started to laugh.

"I was wondering when they were going to get together. They been crushing on each other for a while," he told me. I laughed too.


	4. Friends Again

**Well Stephy-Chan as requested here is anouther chapter. Yes i post on demand. lol jk I forgot I had this one finashed, but I looked it over again just incase. Anyways have fun reading :)

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**Temari P.O.V.**

It was the weekend and Deidara had invited me to watch his band play at a club.

"You can't go, you're not old enough," Kankuro told me.

"I can do whatever I want," I told him angrily.

"They're not going to let you in, you need to be eight-teen and have an I.D.," Gaara told me while working on some homework.

"You know I don't get it. Gaara is such a bad kid at school yet he gets his homework done," I said.

"Don't try to change the subject. You're not going to the club," Kankuro said.

"Yes I am I have an I.D. and everything, so get out of my way!" I yelled pushing him aside and running out of the house.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"You know it's true what she said. I always do my homework but I'm a bad kid. I mean just yesterday I hid all Jiraiya's books, just so we won't have health for a few days. We hid them in the class room too; people are stupid if they never found them yet," I told Kankuro.

"Yeah I figured it was you who did that. So you goanna tell me where you put them?" he asked.

"Nope," I said.

"Didn't think so," he said going to the kitchen to make supper.

**Temari P.O.V.**

After I was far enough away from the house I stopped running and walked. We lived close to the club so it doesn't take that long to get there. When I got to the club they asked for my I.D. so I showed them the fake one Deidara and the band made for me, and he let me in.

"Hey Temari, I didn't think you would actually come," said Sasori.

"Yeah, I sort of thought you were a goodie-two-shoes sans you never bully people with us and stuff," Kisame said.

"Just because I don't bully people doesn't mean I'm a goodie-two-shoes," I told them angrily walking to where Deidara was setting up his equipment.

"Hey Temari, you made it," he said hugging me.

"You can stay back stage here if you want; there are lots of creeps out there."

"Ok, thanks," I said.

"Deidara you're the only one not done setting up, and you're only the singer, I sagest you work faster. Also if your girlfriend is bugging you and stopping you from doing your work, we can have her removed. She is underage," Itachi told him with no emotion.

"I'm almost done, and Temari is not stopping me she just got here. It's my own fault I'm not done," Deidara told him getting back to work. Itachi walked away. I stood there watching Deidara silently.

He looked at me, "Can you help me with something?" he asked.

"Uh...sure, what," I asked.

"Can you hold the microphone stand up while I put a screw in? It's hard to hold it and keep it from falling while doing this," He said. I grabbed the microphone stand.

"So why is it taking you so long to put it together?" I asked.

"Itachi didn't want to bring our own stand, so I had to get one from the club and put it together from scratch," he told me looking frustrated.

"Oh, well that's stupid," I told him. He laughed.

"Yeah, but that's Itachi for you," he said putting the last part of the stand together.

The Akatsuki's played six songs, then another band went on; even though everyone wanted The Akatsuki's to stay on.

"You guys were great," I said running up to them when they were off stage.

"Thanks, so do you want to go and watch the other bands?" he asked.

"Um... I think I better get home actually, it's kind of late," I told him.

"Yeah it is, but something could happen to you on the way home. So if you stay, I brought my own car, so I could drive you home," he told me.

"No, it's ok. I really should get going now, and besides I don't live that far from here," I told him smiling and walking to the door.

"Fine, suit yourself. Be careful," he said waving bye.

If I would have stayed any longer I might not have been able to see outside. Also Deidara said there were lots of creeps in the club anyways. Kankuro must be worried though, Gaara too; but not as much. I was walking by Shikamaru's house; I had to, to get home and to the club. Just as I got past it some little kids decided they wanted money and attacked me.

"Get away you little brats!" I yelled.

"No, not until you give us some money!" they yelled back.

"I don't have any, now scram!" I yelled trying to push them away.

"We don't believe you, teen girls always carry money!" Shikamaru ran out of his house.

"Hey you kids, I know where you live and I will be talking to your parents if you don't leave her alone!" he yelled at them.

"Oh common, we just need a little money," they said backing away from me.

"If you need money then go ask your parents or start doing so chores! You don't need to attack people on the street!" he yelled at them.

"Ok, fine were going," they said running away.

"You know this is the reason we carry bank cards and credit cards now!" I yelled after them.

Shikamaru started walking to his house.

"Wait," I said. "Thank you for helping me with those kids." He turned and looked at me.

"No problem, those kids wouldn't mess with me; I do really know their parents," he told me. I giggled; he blushed. "So why are you out so late anyways?" he asked.

"I went to watch The Akatsuki's play at the club and Deidara was going to give me a ride, but not before he listened to the other bands and got drunk," I told him.

"How did you get in, you're not old enough," he said.

"Actually they made me a fake I.D. and um..." he looked at me disappointedly. "Ok, I wasn't going to go but Kankuro and Gaara were bugging me and telling me I couldn't, and that they wouldn't let me in. So I went just to prove them I could," I blurted out. He looked at me with a worried look now.

"You should listen to your brothers some time. They may be younger then you but they care about you, and just do and say what they think will help you," he told me.

"Yeah, I guess. They were right about it not being a good idea to go out to a club. But if I hadn't and I never walked home alone, then we wouldn't be talking right now, right," I said smiling.

"Yeah I guess," he said turning and walking to the door of his house.

"Oh common Shika," I said. He looked at me. "You know it's still a long way for me to get home. Could your mom or dad drive me?" I asked.

"Uh... sure; I'll ask I mean. Come in and wait," he said.

He lived in a big house. When you look at it, it doesn't look that big but once you get inside it's huge. It was 2 floors. You could see into the living room from the place you walked in, but to get to the living room you had to go up some stairs. They had a big flat screen TV in the living room. They also had a love sofa, a couch, and a rocking chair all facing the TV in a kind of semi circle.

"Did you fix the problem with the kids out side?" said a man; probably Shika's dad.

"Yes, they attacked my friend from school she was walking home from...a friend's house," Shikamaru told him. His dad looked at him then me. He didn't look convinced that I came from a friend's house, but he didn't press the matter.

"So why is she in the house? Shouldn't she be getting home," he said lifting an eyebrow. "Well you see it's still kind of far from here, so she was wondering if she could get a ride; just in case that might happen again," he told him.

"Why didn't she call her mom or dad for a ride home?" he asked.

"Well you see... um..." Shikamaru stuttered.

"My mom and dad are asleep and they were expecting me to stay the night at my friends house, but we go into kind of a fight and I didn't want to call and wake them to come get me, so I just started walking home," I told him thinking quickly. I could tell he didn't by my story. He opened his mouth to say something when Shika's mom walked in.

"I heard it all, common dear I'll drive you home. My husband can be quite a pain," she told me. "Common Shikamaru you can come too," she told him. So we went outside and got in the car.

"It's nice that you wouldn't want to wake your parents, but are you sure they would be asleep at this time?" she asked. I looked at the digital clock in the car. It said 8:00.

"Yeah, they work hard you know, and even if they aren't I want them to relax a little; if they can with my brothers running around," I told her.

"Well that's very nice of you, but you still should have called. Won't they be shocked when you walk through the door, or when they see you in your bed in the morning?" she asked. _Boy is she nosy; I'm going to have to be on my toes for her. If I don't say the right thing or something slips she might find something's out; I don't want a repeat of what happened were I use to live._

"I don't know, as long as I'm safe they shouldn't care too much. I might get yelled at a little, but it doesn't matter," I told her.

"Hmm..." she said.

"Oh, turn up here," I told her.

"Ok thanks, I was worried you forgot that I don't know where you live," she said smiling.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I was watching out the window for Temari. She was either getting a ride from Deidara or being an idiot and walking home. I saw a car pull up to the house and saw Temari get out of it. I went racing out to see her.

"Why did you just run out of the house like that?" I said angrily.

"Didn't mom tell you I was going to my friend's house," she said through clenched teeth and slightly moved her head to the car to tell me to look in it. I looked.

"No she never, I'm sorry I thought you were going some were else because you were mad at something," I told her seeing Shikamaru and his mom, and playing along.

"So, are mom and dad asleep?" she asked.

"Yeah, they went after Gaara stopped harassing them to help him with homework," I told her. "So, you went over to Shikamaru's house?" I asked.

"No, my friend and I got into a fight so I was walking home and some kids attacked me. But Shikamaru helped me, and I didn't want it to happen again so I asked for a ride home," she told me. Then she turned to Shikamaru and his mom. "Thanks for the ride home, bye," she said waving. Shikamaru waved as him and his mom drove away.

"His mom and dad suspect something, I'm sorry," she said as we walked into the house.

"Oh, well it's ok, you didn't let on about anything did you?" I asked.

"No, but they don't believe me about having a fight with my friend, and my "mom and dad" being asleep," she told me.

"Well its ok, they don't know if it really was a lie or not," I told her.

"So, did they actually let you into the club?" Gaara asked Temari.

"Yeah, of cores they did," she said.

"Well then, good job. "Mom and dad" would be so mad," he said smirking.

"That's not even funny," I told him.

"Humph," he said.

"Jest go to bed, there is school tomorrow," Temari said sadly walking to the living room.

"You know that was mean," I told Gaara.

"So maybe she will be better now. You should be happy," he said.

"Bed, now," I said pointing at the stairs.

"Fine, whatever," he said storming up the stairs.

"And clean the sand up off the floor in there!" I yelled to him.

"No I like it, and it's my room!" he yelled back slamming the door. I walked to the living room.

"Hey Temari are you alright?" I asked. "Yeah, I guess," she said.

"Oh yeah, um... this probably isn't a good time, but when I was cleaning your room I kind of broke one of your fans," I told her.

"You what," she said. "You know what its ok."

"I'm sorry it was a...what?" I asked.

"It's ok, were even now. I broke one of your dolls last week when I was cleaning," she told me.

"You broke one and you never told me? And there not dolls there puppets!" I yelled.

"Ok, ok, calm down, gosh," she said. "Well I'm going to bed, good night." She went up stairs. I went and finish my homework, and then I went to bed.


	5. Shikamaru's Date? Sasuke Crazy? Sale?

**Well here is chapter 5. I just finashed and just looked it over. I don't know when I will get the next one up, lots of homework and stuff you know, but I holpe you like this chapter and I'll start working on the next one right away.

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**Temari P.O.V**

It was getting cold out the trees were turning different colors. Winter was fast approaching and Halloween was coming soon. We walked to school in our old fall coats; which were almost too small.

"We need to get some new winter and fall stuff," I told Gaara and Kankuro.

"I know, but we don't have any money," Kankuro told me.

"Yeah, and also I been wondering how you got money for all those clothes you bought a while ago," Gaara said.

"I had some money saved up for emergencies," I told him.

"Well was buying a whole new wardrobe really an emergency?" he asked.

"Yes, I needed a new identity and I got one," I said.

"No one knows us here, why would you need a new identity?" Kankuro asked.

"Because I was sick of being all a slut," I said angrily.

"Oh, sorry I was just asking," he said.

"Yeah well whatever. Anyways I know how we can get all the money back and more," I told them.

"How," Gaara asked. Gaara loved anything that had to do with getting money.

"We just have to sell my old clothes; some for more than I got them for. And then we will have lots of money," I told them.

"And what makes you think they will buy them?" Kankuro asked.

"The fact that girls want guys to look at them, and if they ware my clothes they will be looked at all the time," I told him.

When we got to school Shikamaru was waiting at my locker for me. I was so happy to see him. _I hope things will go back to normal now and we can act like the fight never happened._

"Hi Shika," I said. Gaara and Kankuro looked at each other; I usually say Shikamaru around them.

"Shika," Gaara said smirking.

"Oh shut up," I said grabbing my stuff and walking to class with Shikamaru. "So the Halloween dance is coming soon, you going with anyone yet?" I asked him.

"No, I never have anyone to go with," he told me sadly.

"Hey Shikamaru," Ino said stopping him before we got into the class. "What is it now?" he asked.

"I was wondering who you were going with to the Halloween dance," she said.

"No one, why?" he asked.

"Well I was wondering if you wanted to go with me," she said.

Shikamaru sighed, "Why would you want to go with me?"

"Because I don't have anyone to go with yet, no one has asked me," she told him.

"So, let me get this straight. The most popular girl in school wants to go out with a guy she has called a loser and a nerd all her life," he said.

"Oh come on, when did I say that?" Ino asked.

"Many times before, actually ever sans I got to skip some grades. You also said you would never go out with a guy like me even if your life depended on it. Beside you can get any guy in the school," Shikamaru reminded her.

"Well not any guy," she said glaring at me. "But it's not my life that depends on it it's my social life. Every guy who has asked me; yes I did lie about not getting asked of cores, are all in my grade or in junior high. If I want to keep up my rep I need to date guys in high school, and dating a guy like you would boost my social life a lot. Lots more people would like me," she told him.

"So what you're saying is that you want to go with me to save your social life, and if I do go it will boost the likely hood of nerds liking you; and not thinking you're a stuck up snobby popular girl who only likes her kind," he said.

"I never said that!" she yelled.

"Ah, but you were implying it," he told her.

"Humph," she said sticking her nose in the air.

"But sans I don't have anyone to go with either, I guess I can go with you," he told her rubbing his chin.

"YAY, Thank you," Ino said happily and hugged him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said pushing her away and we walked into the class room.

_I can't believe he is going to go to the dance with that girl, she is just using him. I'm sure he knows that but still he shouldn't let her do it. He is trying to pull something. Yeah that's it he is trying to make me jealous to see what I do, but I won't fall for it. I wonder what he will think if I tell him I'm ok with him being with her and I don't care what they do. _

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"Hey everyone guess who just got a date to the dance!" Ino came into the class yelling.

"Oh come on Ino you always get a date to the dances," Sakura said.

"Yeah, but I never get Shikamaru," she said happily.

"Why would you want to date Shikamaru?" Sakura said disgustedly.

"To bring up my rep with the nerds why else," Ino said.

"Ugh, I still think he's not your type," she told her.

"Oh, who asked you," Ino said snobbishly.

"Humph," Sakura said sticking her noise in the air.

"Wow, why do those two even talk to each other?" Kiba asked.

"Because there girls and their popular, and one of them could kick the other one out at any time if she got enough people to support her. So it's just better if they stay close," Naruto told him.

"Keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer," I said.

"Exactly," he said.

"Well I guess that makes sans," Kiba said.

"Hey guys, I found the perfect time to kill her!" Sasuke yelled running into the class room. All the people stopped and looked at him.

"He is talking about a video game retards," Kiba told everyone.

"No it's not that, it's the fact that he came running and yelling into the classroom, he never dose that," said a guy calmly. He had a shirt with a big calorie and was warring dark sunglasses.

"Yeah, your right Shino that was kind of odd. But sans he is hanging with us now and not the stuck up popular kids he has changed," I told him.

"I see," he said. "So we will be getting a lot of this now?" he asked.

"I don't know actually, depends on how Sasuke is feeling," I told him.

"Well if he starts do this often we are going to have to stop calling him the quite emo boy, aren't we," Shino said.

"I guess so," I told him turning back to my friends. Everyone was still staring.

"Ok, is it that much of a shock to you people? I mean come on; he was going to snap sometime!" Kiba yelled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Choji said, and everyone went back to what they were doing.

It was lunch and we were all sitting at our usual table; except for Temari of cores.

"Thanks for covering for me guys, but still did you have to make me sound like I'm going crazy?" Sasuke asked.

"Of cores we did, that's what friends are fore. To make people think you're going crazy instead of them finding out what you're actually doing," Kiba laughed.

"Uh, yeah..." Sasuke said turning to his homework.

"So what happened?" Lee asked.

"Oh nothing, Sasuke just came running into the classroom yelling "Hey guys, I found the perfect time to kill her!" and everyone was shocked and stopped what they were doing," Naruto told him.

Lee laughed, "Oh my god that would have been hilarious to see!"

"Shut up," Sasuke said hitting him.

"Ouch, hey," Lee said rubbing his shoulder.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

On the other side of the table were Tenten and Neji kind of in their own world. They were talking about plans for the weekend, and about going to the dance together.

"Well they seem happy," I said.

"Huh? Oh, Tenten and Neji, yeah they been shutting everyone out for the whole day," Lee said.

"Yeah I noticed," I told him.

"I wonder what would happen if I flung a pea at Neji," Gaara said.

"Why would you want to do that anyways?" Lee asked.

"Because love makes me sick," Gaara told him getting a pea ready on a spoon for launch. It's true Gaara wasn't much into love, but I bet if he found someone special it wouldn't be that bad. He pulled back on the spoon. The pea went flying though the air and hit Neji on the cheek. He didn't move. "Crap,"

Gaara said, "Maybe Tenten." He grabbed another pea and shot it at Tenten. It hit her in the cheek, but she merely brushed it off and went back to talking to Neji. "Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke. Open fire with pea's on Neji and Tenten," Gaara told them.

"OK!" Kiba yelled and put some peas on his spoon.

"Gaara come on, don't," I said. It's not nice to bug people, especially by launching peas at them.

"Gaara come on, don't," he mimicked. "Stop trying to be my mother," he told me. Then he turned his attention back to Tenten and Neji. "Ready guys, 3...2...1...launch." The peas went flying and hit Neji and Tenten. "Right on target," Gaara said. Neji and Tenten looked up and saw Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba, and Gaara holding spoons.

"I'm going to get you guys!" he yelled.

"Wow, I always thought Neji was a calm person," Naruto said.

"He is, I think we provoked him too much," Kiba said getting up.

"RUN!" Sasuke yelled, and he Gaara, Kiba, and Naruto shot down the table isles. Neji went running after.

"No Neji stop, they were just fooling around!" Tenten yelled to him. He didn't even look at her. "0000 it" she said. Lee and I started laughing. "Hey, stop it don't you even care what will happen to your brother when Neji caches up? He is a black belt remember!" Tenten yelled.

"I know, I know, it's just too funny," I said.

"Yeah, I mean did you see the look on Neji's face," Lee said.

Tenten sighed angrily, "You guys are so immature," she said.

"Hey, it's not our flat you rather hang with a bunch of guys then your popular friends," I said.

"Yeah, you're right," she said sitting back down.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

We ran around the lunch room while Neji was chasing us. People were staring and some were laughing at the fact that Neji still had peas stuck to his face. Everyone knew what happened just by looking at Neji. We passed the popular table for a second time, but this time after we went by Hinata stood up to block Neji, we slowed down to watch.

"What are you doing Neji?" Hinata asked angrily; something people have never heard from her before from her, Courage.

"Move out of the way Hinata, I need to teach these guys a lesson!" Neji yelled at her.

"All they did was have a little fun, it's not that big of a deal!" she told him still yelling.

"You tell him Hinata!" Ino yelled form across the table. Neji started to push her, but she resisted.

"Am I going to have to tell dad you're behaving this way?" she asked him.

"No don't tell uncle, he'll give me a big punishment," Neji said dropping to him knees.

"Then stop it," she told him.

"Sans your father has been so nice to me; letting me stay with you guys when my dad, his brother, passed away; I must be nice to you guys in return and do as you or your father says. So please forgive me for not listening to you the first time, and don't tell your father," Neji said to her. All the popular kids were staring at Neji.

"Ok, I forgive you and I will let you go this time, but watch out you might not get so lucky," Hinata told him. She stepped aside to let him go.

"Thank you," he said bowing to her and walking by us back to the table we were sitting at. Everyone's eyes were fallowing him until he sat down.

"Wow...Thank you Hinata," Kiba said.

"Um...it...It was nothing," she told him.

"What do you mean nothing? One secant he was really mad at us and going to kill us and the next he was bowing to you and not even paying attention to us," Naruto said. Hinata started to blush.

"No...Really...It was nothing," she said.

"Ok, well thanks again anyways," I said to her and we walked back to our table.

"You need to say sorry to Neji," Kankuro said angrily as we sat down.

"I don't need to say sorry to anyone for nothing "mom", right Neji," I said. I could tell Kankuro was mad that I called him mom, but he needed to hear it. _It's what everyone was thinking, and Temari would have laughed if she was here to hear it. I'm getting kind of sick of her always hanging out with Deidara, but oh well it's her life._

"No, it's ok Gaara you don't need to say sorry you guys were just having fun," Neji said with a sigh. Kankuro looked angrily at me.

"But Neji, silly guy, we did something bad so we have to say were sorry," I said. "So we're sorry, right guys?"

"Uh, yeah we're sorry we won't do it again," said Naruto.

Neji sighed, "Fine," he said. Kankuro anger left him.

"Why did you say you were sorry? He said you didn't half to," Kiba whispered.

"Silly Kiba, we did something bad so we had to say sorry," I told him.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing," I told him. "Kankuro was just really angry and you don't want to know what he does when he is angry. So now I have to be an angel around him for the rest of the day," I told Naruto, Kiba, and Sasuke in a whisper.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I walked to my class yearly after lunch without Deidara; he acting strange, and I didn't feel like I usually do around him today. _Maybe it was because of last night. Maybe I have finally come to my senses, and just don't like older guys anymore. Maybe I have finally realized that I'm with the wrong guy when I should be with Shika. I just don't know what to do anymore. If this keeps up between me and Deidara I might have to break up with him. He just doesn't appeal to me like he did when we met. I think being with Shika for so long has changed me in a big way, and I no longer like the bad, older, boys._ Tears started to fill my eyes. _I just don't know what to do anymore. I mean Shika is with Ino now and I'm feeling farther from Deidara and_-

"Hey Temari, wait up!" came Deidara's voice from down the hall. I didn't want to stop but I had too, I mean I couldn't run away from him. "What's wrong Temari? Why did you leave so soon? I thought you liked listening to us play, and like staying for as long as you can," he said caching up to me. I wiped the tears away and turned to him. I wasn't going to break up with him now, but I still didn't like the idea of going to break up with a guy who has been nice to me, and who I liked for so long.

"Nothing is wrong; I just wanted to get to class yearly. I love watching you guys play too don't worry," I told him with a fake smile. He frowned. I guess he can see through it.

"There is something wrong, why don't you tell me I want to help," he said. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I started to cry. Deidara hugged me. I don't know why but when he did everything seemed better; witch made me more confused so I cried more.

_How come I have to choose between the two guys? I was never in a situation like this before; the guys usually broke up with me or asked me out, I never had to choose for myself. I know Shika is the best choice; he already knows Kankuro, Gaara, and I are orphans. I don't know if I'll ever tell Deidara, he might not understand and be like all the other older people that knew and try to get us a family. Or he might take advantage of it for his own gain. I just don't know him as well as Shika after I think about it. I mean all I know about his is that: 1. He is in a band and is the singer, 2. He is really good looking and all the girls want him, and 3. He is kind of a jerk at time, but can be nice. I mean __is that really knowing__ someone? We should have been friends first, and then maybe this wouldn't be so hard. Then again it might have made it harder because I would have known him more. Oh, I'm so confused. _

"Temari, seriously what is wrong? I want to help. I can't stand to see you sad," he said.

_Oh, why did he have to be so nice? If he was a jerk to me like he is Shika maybe I wouldn't have this problem._ I stopped crying and let the tears just fall down my face. I looked up into his eyes. He could see my pain. He whipped my tears with his glove, and took me to a bench against the wall to sit down. I put my face in my hands and the tiers dripped though the cracks between my fingers.

"Here Temari," Deidara said taking off his gloves. "You need them more then I do. Don't want your hands getting wet and turning to raisins." I took the gloves, and as he let go I saw something on his hand.

"What is that?" I asked pointing to the palm of his hand. He made fists and put them in his pockets.

"Nothing," he said.

"Oh, common let me see," I told him grabbing his arm and pulling his hand out of his pocket; it was still in a fist. I put my hand on top of where it opened and peeled his fingers back so they were strait. Then I took my hand off his and look. I gasped. There was a mouth tattooed onto it. He quickly pulled his hand away and shoved it back in his pocket.

"Were not allowed to have visible tattoos in school, so I ware those gloves," he told me.

"But...But why did you get a tattoo of a mouth? And didn't it hurt?" I asked him. It's funny how when I saw that all my problems left me and I was just determined to see what he was hiding.

"I guess I just wanted to prove something to my parents. And yes they did hurt," he told me.

"They," I said.

"Yeah, I got one on my other hand too, and on my stomach," Deidara told me.

"Why and why did you get it in painful places?" I asked.

"I wanted to prove to everyone that I wasn't scared and that I could do it. Even if it meant getting hurt," he told me. I handed him his gloves back.

"You need these more than me," I told him. He put them on. "I have to go now," I told him getting up and walking to the class; we were really close to it.

"Bye Temari!" Deidara yelled to me. I waved back.

When class was over I was still confused but I didn't let is bug me. I was braking up with Deidara and that final.

"Hey Temari, how was your lunch today?" Shikamaru asked.

"Good I guess nothing different from normal, how about yours?" I asked.

"Good, funny. Gaara, Kiba, Naruto, and Sasuke shot peas at Tenten and Neji because they weren't talking to anyone. And then Neji got mad and started chasing them around the lunch room," he told me. "But don't worry Hinata stopped Neji and they said sorry, so it's all good."

"Ok, I thought I was going to have to do something about it," I told him.

He laughed, "Nope Kankuro has everything under control," he told me.

"That's good, I wish I could eat with you again," I said sadly. He looked at me.

"I mean you guys, I wish I could eat with you guys again," I corrected myself blushing embarrassed. _I can't believe I'm embarrassing myself around him now. What happened?_

After we got home from school I got my old clothes ready to sell.

"So your sure people will buy these?" Gaara asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," I told him.

"Well I wouldn't," he said.

"Of cores you wouldn't Gaara, you're a guy," Kankuro said.

"You have a point there," he replied.

I put all my old clothes out on in the front yard, and stuck a yard sale sign up; but they said "only selling teen girls clothes". I then made Gaara and Kankuro put signs up around our area, and some on the main street. It was an hour before people started coming.

"Wow, these are actually nice clothes," said a girl about my age that came.

"Why wouldn't they be nice?" I asked her.

"Well my mom made me come get clothes, and usually sales like this have really bad clothes; so I just buy a shirt to make my mom happy and then through it out," she told me. "Anyways, why are you getting rid of them?"

"Because I just thought I needed a new look," I said.

"Well that's too bad these are really nice," she said taking a really skimpy skirt and a shirt to match. "Wow, these cost lots for a yard sale," she said with wide eyes. "Do you take credit card?"

"I know they cost lots but you can't buy them in this town, plus some of them have been discontinued," I told her.

"I can believe that," she said.

"And no, I don't accept credit cards," I told her.

She smiled, "Didn't think so. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to use my mom's money. She will have a cow when she sees this outfit," she told me pulling out a wad of twenty dollar bills.

"Wow, how much money do you have there?" Gaara asked looking at it with wide eyes as he walked by.

"Just over a thousand dollars," she said smiling at him.

"Oh my god... Come on buy some more stuff," he told her.

She laughed, "Ok, I'll buy more of your sister's clothes. I was saving up for something good anyways; and I think I found them," she said grabbing the skimpiest clothes I had. I added up how much it was as she handed it to me.

"Ok, that's a thousand dollars," I told her.

She smiled, "And still thirty dollars to spare. I'm going to go buy a shake," she said grabbing the bags I put her clothes in and handing me the money. I put the money in the box I had out and looked up. Almost all my old clothes were gone.

"Wow, what the hell happened here? Did you get robed?" Kankuro said walking in for the first time sans he put the signs out.

"No, I sold them all," I told him.

"Yeah, some rich chick came in with a huge wad of cash and bought it all and then had thirty dollars left over and went to buy a shake," Gaara told him.

"I hope she goes to get some friends," Kankuro said. "How much did you pay for these when you got them again?"

"Only five-hundred dollars, she bought all that for a thousand," I told him.

"Wow, we already earned five hundred dollars then," Gaara said.

"Actually we earned a thousand, I always us my own money to buy my clothes. I don't want to waste all of ours," I told him.

"Then how come we don't have any?" Kankuro asked.

"Because you wasted it on your stupid dolls and Gaara's sand stuff," I told him.

"What about your fans?" Gaara asked.

"Used my own money," I told him.

"How the hell are you getting all this money!" he yelled.

"I saved it all up, even before mom and dad died. I had a lot of money, too much to count, but it's all gone now," I told him.

"Oh, that would have been smart to keep. You know College or University. You would have had enough to get in," Kankuro told me.

"Shut up "mom", maybe I don't want to go to College or University!" I yelled at him standing up and clenching my fist.

"Hey, I called him that at lunch. Good job," Gaara whispered to me.

"Hey, I was just trying to tell you that you might have made a mistake!" Kankuro yelled back. I let my fist go and dropped back into the seat.

"I know I'm sorry, I just don't like it when you act like a parent. It makes me think you are trying to replace them for me and Gaara," I told him sadly, tears filling my eyes.

"Ok, I'll try not to be like that anymore, but sometimes you and Gaara need it," he said calmly. I whipped my eyes.

"Well don't you think Gaara would like an older brother he can be with and play with and get trouble with sometimes, instead of a brother trying to be a parent?" I asked looking up at him.

"Yeah I guess, I'm sorry," Kankuro said.

"So does that mean next time we shoot peas at Neji you and Lee will join in?" Gaara asked.

"Maybe," he said smiling at him.

"Want to help me make quick sand in my room?" Gaara asked.

"How are you going to make quick sand in your room? It won't be deep enough," Kankuro told him.

"Yes it will, my whole room is now sand almost to the roof. You have to crawl up the sand hill to get in," he said smiling.

"I told you to clean that sand up, and now you make a hill and quick sand with it?" Kankuro asked.

Gaara laughed, "Pretty much," he said.

I laughed, "So you going to go Kankuro?" I asked.

"Fine," he said and him and Gaara went to make quick sand.

About an hour later the girl from before came back and brought some friends.

"Hey girl, I brought some friends. That's the only reason I left some things and never took it all," she told me.

"Oh, well welcome back. How did your mom react to the new clothes?" I asked.

"Well I only showed her this one that I just put on," she said taking off her coat to show a skimpy black skirt with pick along the bottom and a black belly shirt with no shoulders showing off her bellybutton piercing. She was also warring tall black boots with a heel.

"She didn't like it too much, but if you're going to a club you got to look good right?" she said. "Ok girls, go see what you would like for tonight," she told her friends, and they went to look at the other clothes. She came over to wait by me.

"You ever get a fake I.D. and go to a club?" she asked.

"Yeah, once to watch my boyfriend's band play, it was the club over here," I told her.

"Oh, your boyfriend plays in a band that's pretty cool," she said.

"Hey, these clothes cost too much," one of her friend complained.

"No there not you can't buy them here and some are discontinued, you should be glad that she is selling them here, and we got here first, instead of online," she told her friend.

"Oh my god that's so cool, but still," said another friend.

"Maybe you should get your cute little brother out here, then they might buy some stuff," she told me winking.

"He is busy with something though," I told her.

"Too bad," she said. "Come on girls just buy an outfit it's worth it,"

"But you left all the expensive ones," they complained.

"Oh my god, just use your parents money!" she yelled. They got wide eyes.

"Oh my god, you're so smart," they said.

"That's why I'm the leader," she told them.

"You're so right. Using your parent's money to buy really expensive stuff is good," they said grabbing the rest of the clothes and bringing it over.

"Ok, get in a line," I told them. They looked at me and tilted their heads to the side.

"One behind the other," I said.

"Oh...," they replied, and started scrambling around. "This is hard, one person isn't going to have someone to stand behind," they said.

"One behind the other except one person," the girl beside me said.

"Oh...," they said. "That's why you're the smart one," and they finally were ready to buy the clothes.

After they bought all their clothes with their mom and dad's money; and some few problems with not being able to take out the money and hold the clothes at the same time, which we fixed; they needed a place to change because they didn't want to go back home.

"Well I guess you can change here," I told them and they started taking off their clothes. "No, no, I mean in the washroom!" I yelled.

"Oh... Ware is it?" they said blankly.

"In the house," I said getting up and walking to the door. They stood there blankly. "Come on," I told them and they fallowed me.

_I'm getting really annoyed with these girls, their all air heads, nothing sinks in. They just stair there blankly and you have to explain every detail to them. Their giving a bad name to blonds every ware; I don't know how that girl puts up with them. I guess they follow her to be popular or something, I guess she might like her own little followers. I wouldn't be able to stand it. I wouldn't blame her if she is screaming at the top of her lungs to get rid of all the stress these girls bring. It's a good thing she is the leader and not one of these idiots._

"Ok so line up, and one at a time go in and change after the other person in front of you is done," I told them. Explaining everything to them right off was a good idea, the changing went smoothly. They went in as dumb blonds with appropriate looking clothes and came out looking like blond hookers.

"Oh my god, wow," Kankuro said coming down stairs to get a drink. They waved and winked at him and he ran off. Then Gaara came.

"Kankuro forgot my drink," he said. He stopped and looked.

"Wow," he said as the girls waved and winked at him. He ran upstairs with his drink.

"Is everyone done changing?" I asked. They nodded. I waved with my hand to show tell them to come with me.

"Yeah girls, you look hot. Will get lots of guys at the club tonight," said the girl who first came. The other girls made poses for her. "Ok, let's go." They walked away from the house to the club, holding the bags with their old clothes in them.

Kankuro and Gaara came running out of the house as I started cleaning up.

"Hey Temari, where are those hot... I mean... nice girls?" Kankuro asked.

"They left to go to the club and get some guys," I told him.

"Awe man," Gaara said.

"Anyways," I said. "Sans your here go take down those sign's you put up," I told them.

"Do we have to?" Gaara asked.

"Yes, now go," I told him, and him and Kankuro went to take down the signs. Then we went to go buy some new coats.


	6. Halloween Dance, Death, I Like You

**Temari P.O.V.**

It was Halloween, and we had the dance today. It wasn't like dances at other schools though, this dance lasted all day so we didn't have classes; instead of just half the day or at night. This Halloween I was a "sexy" witch, Kankuro was a puppet, and ironically Gaara was an angel. We were all told to where our costumes to school, because as soon as we got there it the dance was going to start

When we got to our lockers to put away our coats all our friends were waiting for us. Naruto was a pumpkin, Kiba was a dog, Tenten was a mouse, Neji was a vampire, Sasuke was an un-dead skater, Shika was a wizard, and Lee was an apple.

"Dude a vampire that is so old" Kankuro said.

"Yeah, that's what I said when I saw him," Tenten said.

"Oh come on, look at Naruto" Neji said.

"Hey," Naruto said. Gaara laughed.

"I like Temari's the best," Lee said winking at me. Kankuro and Gaara hit him.

"See I told you not the ware that," Gaara said.

I laughed, "I don't care," I told him. He glared at Lee.

"Fine, I won't do that anymore I swear," Lee said backing away from them.

"Come on guys, let's go party," Tenten said, and we walked to the gym the dance was at.

Ino was waiting for Shikamaru, she was a pig.

"Why are you so late all the cool people get here first!" she yelled at him.

"Wow calm down, I was waiting for Temari and her brothers with the others," he told her.

"Well thanks to you I am officially not cool at this dance, But sans I'm popular I get one freebie. So don't mess it up again!" she yelled grabbing his wrist and storming off into the gym.

"Wow she has got issue, I feel sorry for him," said Naruto.

"I know, that's what I had to put up with everyday for the past few years. It was horrible, especially Sakura," he said. We all looked at Naruto.

"What," he said. "Oh... Hey don't you say stuff like that about her," he said sarcastically and with a sigh.

"I thought you liked her," Lee said.

"Not really, I was just trying to get Kiba to admit he likes Hinata," he told us. Kiba glared at him.

"So, what are we standing here for let's go in," Tenten said.

We got inside and it amazing. There were lights flashing all different colors, and the music was playing loud. It was just bright enough to see in there. When we walked in we saw Hinata a cat, Sakura herself, Ino, Shikamaru, and a bunch of other popular kids. I couldn't didn't want to look at Shika and that girl. So I said bye to everyone and I went to find Deidara and the guys.

I found them at the far end talking. Deidara was himself but had his gloves off, Itachi was a weasel, and Sasori was the same this as Kankuro, a puppet, and Kisame was a shark. They all looked at me as I walked up.

"Wow, you're hot again," Sasori said.

"Yeah, I thought you were going to be something more in your new style," Kisame said.

"Come on guys leave her alone, and get your own girls," Deidara told him. He wasn't going to have a girl for long either.

"Hey like you said, we're only going to get hookers," Sasori said, and him and Kisame laughed.

Deidara sighed, "You guys are so immature," he said.

"You two need to grow up," Itachi said.

"Ha, I wouldn't be talking Mr. Weasel soot," Kisame said.

"It wasn't my fault my mom made me ware it," he said under his breath.

"Did you hear the, his mom made him ware it," Sasori laughed.

"What's wrong with them?" I asked Deidara in a whisper.

"They snuck beer in and drank it all before you came," he told me.

"Oh come on, we never drank it all. There is one left," they said and started fighting over it.

"You never had any did you?" I asked Deidara.

"Uh..." He hesitated, he did drink. "Of cores I never," he said.

A few minutes later Deidara and I ditched them and went to dance.

After the second dance tears filled my eyes, "What's wrong?" Deidara asked. I stopped dancing.

"I have to break up with you," I told him wiping my eyes.

"But...But why?" he asked.

"I just don't feel the same around you anymore. I don't know if it's you or your friends, or if it's that I don't know you enough, or that I know you enough to know that you can be a jerk and you drink," I said. He looked down at me.

"I don't drink though," he told me.

"Don't lie to me I can smell it on your breath," I said.

"I can change though. I'll stop drinking, I'll be nicer, and I'll even stop hanging out with those guys. Whatever it takes so that you don't leave me I'll do it" he told me sadly. I looked away from him.

"I couldn't ask you to do any of that, I'm sorry. Can we still be friends?" I asked.

"I don't think that would work," he said. I looked back up at him.

"I hardly see you as it is, only at lunch and on weekends. And if we stop dating I won't see you at lunch anymore, and I'll most likely never see you on the weekend. So no, we can't be friends. But I get it, you like Shikamaru too and you see him more and he is a way better person then me by far, and if you start dating him I'll understand. I won't be jealous that you dumped me for him," he said walking away.

"Bye Temari, maybe I'll see you around," he said with a smile and then he disappeared into all the people.

I ran crying to the bleachers we had on the right side of the gym and hid under them. I held my knees and cried into them. Why was braking up so hard? I mean he wasn't the guy I liked when we first met, but then again I'm not the same girl. He was right about one thing though, I do like Shikamaru. But he is with Ino now, so I'm all alone in the world again. No, that's wrong. I have friends that care about me and like me the way I am. I stopped crying and sat there calming myself down.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Lee and I walked around the gym, there wasn't much to do innless you had a date and were dancing.

"Let's stand at the punch table," Lee suggested.

"Yeah, with all the nerds with no dates, not going to happen," I told him. "Ware is Tenten and Neji?"

"Dancing of cores," Lee said with a sigh.

"Might as well just walk around the school and go where we never been yet this year," I said.

"Ok, let's go and come back later," Lee said and we walked off.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

Kiba, Naruto, and I fallowed Sasuke up the stairs to the roof. He was planning on killing her now sans no one is usually around at this time a day. He got her to come by telling her he was mean to her because he really liked her and didn't want Ino to get jealous. He told her that they should go to the roof so they could talk in private. What an idiot.

Sasuke and Sakura talked then when she was close to the edge he walked near her making her back up. Then he made it look like he was grabbing her to kiss her, and as she stepped down to make that final step she realized there was nothing there. Sasuke gave a smirk and a little push. She went falling to her death screaming.

Sasuke came running to us and we ran down the stairs and far away from them. We didn't want to go back to the dance so soon so we walked around the school. Sasuke, Kiba, and I were so glad she Sakura was gone, and Kiba and I were congratulating Sasuke. Naruto however was stunned and scared at what he just saw.

Shaking he asked, "Would you ever do that to me?"

"Do what," Sasuke asked.

"Kill me, you just committed murder. Aren't you scared or shocked at what you just did?" he asked.

"No, I'm not. And don't worry I don't plan on killing you," he told him. Naruto gave a sigh of relief, but was still scared at what he just saw.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I was still crying a little and I was still under the bleachers. I looked up for a secant and saw Shikamaru running in and sat beside me; he didn't notice me at first. He was out of breath; he must have been running from someone. After he caught his breath he looked over at me.

"Holy, who is that!" he said jumping back. I looked up and him over my knees and then laid the side of my head on top of them facing the other way. "Oh, Temari, what's wrong?" he asked come back close to me. I didn't say anything I just turned my head to face him. He was really close. I looked him in the eyes. He saw that I was sad and put his arm around me. I can't believe he has that much courage, he never use to even be able to talk to me much or come that close. I guess him seeing that I was sad made him want to comfort me. I let go of my knees and put my head on his shoulder and put one of my hands on his chest. I could tell he was uncomfortable with me doing it but he never said anything or tried to move away. He probably never thought I would do that and instead push him away.

After a few minutes of sitting like that in silence Shikamaru asked,

"What's wrong?" again and actually wiped the tears from my eyes.

"I broke up with Deidara," I told him.

"What, why did you do that?" he asked.

"I changed and now I don't feel the same around him. Also his friends are idiots, and he can be a real jerk. There is also another reason, but I'm not going to say," I told him.

"You just figured all that out," he said. "And come on tell me the other reason."

"No," I said.

"You like someone else don't you," he said. I buried my face into his shoulder. "Come on who is it?" he asked. 'I'm your friend you can tell me."

"You," I said, but it was muffled so he couldn't hear it.

"Come on," he said. I turned my head out of his shoulder.

"You," I said. He pushed me away from him and backed away crawling. There was no room to stand under here.

"No you don't, you don't like me," he said shocked.

"Yes I do," I said.

"Don't even joke about that, you know I like you and I don't want you making stuff like that up. I don't like you bullying me like that," he said angrily. I crawled close to him. He stood sat there froze.

"But I do like you," I whispered in his ear and then kissed him on the cheek. He turned red. I giggled and backed away.

"You... Me... I...," he said. I giggled some more.

"Something wrong Shika?" I asked.

"N-no," he said. I smiled. He was really in shock that I liked him, so I changed the subject.

"What are you doing over here anyways, I thought they were with Ino," I said. He snapped out of his trance.

"What?" he asked.

"I thought they were with Ino," I repeated.

"Oh, I was but all she was doing was bossing me around and making me to get punch for her and her friends. So when she asked for some for herself I went and got it, and then when she turned around to take it from me I dumped it over her head and dropped the cup on her and told her to get her own punch. Then I ran though the people in the other direction and when I was far away from her I turned around and ran over here. I don't know if she is still looking for me; she was really pissed," he told me.

I laughed, "Good job, I always thought you were a wimp," I said.

"I am, that is I was until you came to the school," he told me looking me in the eyes. I looked at him and he blushed and looked away. "Everyone is different now that you and your brothers came. You guys have taken us out casts and made us more confident and got us to be friends with each other. You have changed our lives for the better and your changing the school too; more than you guys know," he told me.

I went close to him and asked in a whispered, "Do you want to go out with me Shika?" He nodded and I gave him a hug.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

We walked back into the gym and saw Tenten and Neji sitting at a table set up resting. We went up to them.

"Hey guys," Lee said.

"Hi Lee, Hi Kankuro, we stopped dancing because Neji got tired," Tenten said.

"She can dance for so long it's crazy," Neji said.

"So, where is everyone?" Tenten asked.

"I don't know, let's go look for them," I said. And we went to go look.

We looked all over the gym but couldn't see them.

"I'm going to check under the bleachers just in case," I told them. When I got there I saw Shikamaru and Temari. Shikamaru had his arm around Temari and she had her head on his shoulder. "Hey guys, were coming to sit with you is that ok?" I asked. Temari got up.

"Yeah sure," she said. They didn't look bothered by it at all.

I went back the Lee, Tenten, and Kankuro.

"Hey guys, Temari and Shikamaru are under there, come one," I said. And we walked over to them. We went and sat down with them.

"Are you sure they said it was ok?" Tenten asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, why," I said.

"No reason," she replied. The Lee turned to me.

"What were they doing when you came in?" he asked in a whisper.

"Nothing just talking why," I asked. He shrugged.

I couldn't tell them what they were like when I came in. Temari is my sister after all and I didn't want to tell everyone about her privet life, that wouldn't be right.

"So, where is Gaara and them?" Lee asked.

"Oh, Sakura and Sasuke went to the roof for some privacy and Gaara, Kiba, and Naruto fallowed them," Shikamaru said.

"That's not good," I said.

"I know going to spy on two people that want to be alone, its sick," Tenten said angrily.

"No it's not that, and besides Sasuke doesn't actually like her," I told her.

"Then what?" she asked.

"Gaara has been talking about Sasuke killing Sakura by pushing her off the roof of the school of weeks," Temari said. Everyone looked at her.

"What?" Neji said.

"Yeah, he said that Sasuke thought she was really annoying, and just at the beginning of the month Gaara said he found the perfect time to kill her," she said.

"Oh yeah, I remember that they told me about that; but I didn't know that's what they were talking about," Lee said. Everyone was shocked that they might have just gone to go kill Sakura and we didn't know it before.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

After walking around the school three times we decided to go back to the dance. That and we saw Tsunade coming. We raced into the gym and behind the bleachers, and to our surprise everyone was there.

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Shikamaru is hiding from Ino, Kankuro and Lee don't have anything better to do, and Neji and Tenten got tired of dancing," Temari told us.

"Well what about you?" Kiba asked.

"What about me," she said.

"So what are you guys doing here?" Tenten asked changing the subject.

"No reason, just bored," I told her.

"You aren't hiding because you just pushed Sakura off the roof of the school and don't want to get in trouble are you?" Kankuro said.

"Maybe," said Sasuke. Everyone looked disappointed in them.

"What, she was getting on my nerves. And it was Gaara's idea," he said. Everyone looked at Gaara.

"I was joking when I said it, but he took it literally," Gaara defended himself.

"Well why didn't you guys stop him then?" Temari said.

"Because I; I don't know about anyone else; wanted her dead too, and I wanted to see her die," Kiba said.

"And plus he said if anyone found out he would take all the blame," Naruto said, he was shaking.

"What's wrong, why are you shaking?" Lee asked.

"He is scared for life because he saw someone die, and he is scared Sasuke is going to kill him next," I told him.

"I told him I wasn't going to, I just wanted her gone," Sasuke told him.

"Yeah, but it is still scary to see someone die in front of you," Naruto said moving as far as he could away from Sasuke.

"You just a chicken," Sasuke said.

"Am not!" he yelled.

God, I hate it when they fight it's so annoying.

"Guys you're annoying me, am I going to have to kill you!" I yelled at them. They shut up.

"Isn't that kind of harsh?" Kiba said. "They're your friends."

"I was just getting them to be quit," I told him. "I wouldn't kill anyone, I'd beat someone up, but I wouldn't kill."

"Gaara, you're weird, you know that," Shikamaru told him.

"Hey, I didn't say I was normal," I said. Everyone laughed.

"So Temari, why are you in here? I thought you would be with Deidara," Lee said. Tenten hit him because she just got everyone off that subject. Lee rubbed his head were she hit it.

"Leave her alone, there doesn't have to be a reason why she is here and not with Deidara," Tenten said.

"No its ok, if they really want to know then I'll tell them," Temari said.

"I broke up with him." Everyone was shocked.

"Why, what happened?" Lee said.

"It's none of your guises biasness why," Shikamaru told them defending me.

"So you know why then?" Neji asked.

"Yeah, why does it matter?" he said.

"Well why did she tell you and not going to tell us?" I said glaring at him. I don't like her keeping secrets and I really don't like her telling one of her friends it and not me and Kankuro.

"Because I was here first and she was sad and I asked her why and she told me," Shikamaru said.

"I hope you know I'm going to hurt you," I told him.

"Gaara don't," Temari said. I looked away from him.

"I just don't like you keeping secrets from me," I told her.

"Well maybe you should stop threatening to hurt my friends then," she told me.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you're my older sister," I said.

"I know," Temari said.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"Oh by the way, I'm giving you permission to prank Deidara's friends if you want; they are real jerks," I told Gaara.

"So his friends had something to do with you braking up with him?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah, but there were lots of reasons," I told them.

"You like someone else don't you?" Naruto said smirking.

"How the hell do you always know when someone likes someone else?" Kiba asked.

"Oh, so you admit you like Hinata," he said.

"Hey, that was a dirty trick," Kiba said. Naruto smirked.

"So you do," Naruto said.

"Yeah, it's not a secret anymore now," he said angrily.

"It never was a secret," said Sasuke.

"What do you mean by that?" Kiba asked.

"The whole class knows you like her, so just give it up," Sasuke told him.

"Damn it," Kiba said angrily.

"So who do you like Temari?" Lee asked.

"No one, why must I have to break up with someone because I like someone else," I said.

"It's Shikamaru," Naruto said.

"Shut up," I told him.

"Oh so it is him, and does he know this?" he asked. I blushed; Naruto is really good at telling if someone likes someone else. It's scary.

"Well sans it's not a secret anymore because of you, yes he does know," I told them.

Neji, Lee and Tenten turned to Kankuro.

"So what were they really doing when you came to check to see if they were here?" Lee asked.

"Nothing they were just talking," he told them. I like that he will lie for me but he doesn't have to.

"No we weren't, we weren't saying anything," I said. Shikamaru was sitting there quietly; he probably didn't want to get involved. They looked at us. "We weren't doing that either," I said.

"Well then what were you doing?" Kiba asked.

"Sitting here," I said.

"Sure you were," Naruto said.

"Hey guys, it is none of your biasness what we were doing," Shikamaru told them.

"Sure it is where your friends," Lee said.

"Well if you really want to know we'll show you," I told them.

"What?" Shikamaru said.

"Oh come on we weren't doing anything," I said.

"But I don't like you that close," he said.

"Huh?" said Kankuro.

"Come on you're going to have to learn to live with it," I said.

"But...But," Shikamaru said. "Your brothers are right there," he pointed.

"They can't do anything I'm here I'll stop them," I said.

"To hell you will stop me!" Gaara yelled. I glared at him. "Fine," he said.

"See Shika, so come on," I said.

"Alright," Shikamaru said, and I got closer to him. He put his arm around me and I laid my head on his shoulder.

"Is that all?" Sasuke asked.

"Yep," I said.

"Well why did you have to make such a big deal out of that Shikamaru?" Neji asked. He turned red and never answered.

"He really likes you doesn't he," Naruto said.

"Shut up Naruto, I can't help it," Shikamaru told him. Then the lights in the gym went on and the music stopped.

"We have to run out of here before the popular kids see us," Sasuke said and him, Gaara, Kiba, and Naruto went running for the door.

"We'll meet you outside!" they yelled to us.

"I have to go too, Ino is pissed at me," Shikamaru said getting up. "I'll meet you guys out side too." And he took off.

"I guess it's just us five," I said.

"Yeah, we don't need to rush, let's just wait a while and then go," Kankuro said. So we waited tell most of the people had gone.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"Ware is Sakura, she has been gone for a while," I heard Ino say as we ran by.

"Uh oh, what side of the school did the body fall off of again?" I asked Sasuke.

"Behind the school, so the popular kids will see it as soon as they leave," he told me.

"Good, I thought we were going to see it first. And they are wondering where she is, I just heard Ino ask where she was," I told him.

"Well they will see her soon won't they," Kiba said. We ran to the end of the hall and were almost out when we saw Tsunade. We turned around and raced back and turned down a different hall.

"Let's go get our stuff from our lockers and the see if she is still there when we get back," Shikamaru said. So we went and got our stuff that we brought to school for the day.

"Hey, I thought you guys were going to run out side," I said when I saw Gaara at his locker.

"We were but Tsunade was there blocking the way because there is still ten minutes of school," he told me.

"We'll we will sneak out then," Kankuro said. We went back to the front of the school and she was still there so we snuck out the side.

"Do you think they will know we left?" Naruto asked.

"Who cares, we got out of school early and it's the weekend tomorrow," I said.

"We should all do something this week end," Shikamaru said.

"Like what?" Tenten asked.

"I don't know just something," he said.

"How about a Halloween party tonight," Temari said.

"Like any of our parents would let us have a party at one of our houses tonight on such short notice," Sasuke said.

"We can have it at our house, but you guys will have to bring your own snacks and music and stuff," Kankuro said. So everyone went to ask their parents if they could.


	7. Halloween Party, Hinata Likes Kiba?

**Here it is Chapter 7!! (sorry it took so long, I had lots of homework) Anyways it kind of drages on in the beginning, but it gets way better. Like always plz review/comment on it. And I don't know when the next chapter will be done so just hold tight. Hope you injoy!

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**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Sans we left school early so no one got in trouble we all walked to the houses. We went to the one furthest from our house first and work our way to ours.

"Why are you home so soon?" Neji's uncle asked.

"We got let out of school early," he lied.

"Ware is Hinata then?" he asked.

"She is with her friends," he told him.

"So if I ask her then she will say you got let out early?" his uncle asked.

"Yeah, so can I go, all my friends came with me to ask," Neji told him stepping out of the way to show him.

"You have all these friends?" he asked.

"There are only nine people," he said.

"Well how many friends do Hinata have?" he asked.

"Almost the whole school," he told him, which was true sans she is popular.

"Ok, fine you can go, you can even stay overnight if it is a long party," his uncle told him closing the door.

"Wow your uncle doesn't really care that much does he," I said.

"He does, he just didn't want to say no in front of all of you," he told us. Then we walked to Tenten's house.

"Mom, can I go to Halloween party tonight, I don't know when it will end though. It might turn into a sleep over," she told her.

"Is that all the people going?" she asked.

"Yeah, but the girls will sleep in their own room if it turns into that and we will lock the door," Tenten told her. We don't know if that will happen yet but it might.

Next we went to Lee's house.

"Can I go to a party?" Lee asked his mom.

"Yeah sure what ever, I'm busy," she said closing the door.

"Correction, your mom doesn't really care," I laughed.

"Hey shut up, it's not my fault she is busy and doesn't think about me much anymore." Lee said. Everyone laughed at him. We crossed the street and went to Sasuke's house.

"I'm not even going to tell them, I'm just going to slide the letter I made under the door," he said, pushing the letter under and we went to Kiba's house.

When his dad opened the door his dog came running out.

"Aw, Kiba you have a cute puppy!" Temari and Tenten said petting the dog.

"Hey, dad can I go to a party, it might turn into an overnight thing though," Kiba said.

"Sure, sans it's a weekend I guess you can," his dad said.

"Ok and I need to bring some snacks and music," he told him.

"Why, don't they have any for it?" he asked.

"Not really, it was kind of short notice," Kiba told him.

"Ok, come get what you need then go," his dad told him.

"Ok Naruto we have to ask your parents now," I said.

"Um, how about I just tell my mom and dad ware I was tonight tomorrow," Naruto said.

"We don't want you getting in trouble though," Tenten told him.

"Aw, who cares lets skip him then," Gaara said.

"No, we can't do that," Sasuke said smirking. Then we saw Hinata across the street walking home alone. Neji went running over to her, we fallowed.

"Hey Hinata," Neji said.

"Y-yes," she said.

"If uncle asks we got let out of school early ok," he said.

"But we never," she told him.

"I know, but if he asks we did ok," Neji said again.

"I don't know," Hinata told him.

"If you tell him we got let out early and get some music and come over to Gaara's house then you can stay for the party," he told her.

"O-ok," she said. "But I don't know where it is," she said doing the thing she dose with her fingers.

"I'll show you," Temari said. "Go on without me guys, we'll catch up," she told us walking with Hinata back to her house.

We walked to Shikamaru's house to ask his parents, and it was then that I realized we forgot to go to Naruto's. _Oh well, if he wants to get in trouble he can, in less he is hiding something from us._ Shikamaru's mom answered.

"Hey mom, can I go to a party, it might be an overnight thing though. It's at Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro's house," he told her.

"Yeah sure, were going out tonight anyways and I rather you spend the night with your friends than alone," she told him.

"Thanks, I need to grab some snacks and music though," he told her.

"Sure, take the stuff and then go, were leaving right away," she told him.

After Shikamaru grabbed everything we needed that Kiba didn't take we set off to our house.

"This is going to be the best party ever," Lee said.

"Yeah, we get the whole house to ourselves and everything," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, guys just don't make a big mess, because I'm going to be the one cleaning it up after," I said.

**Temari P.O.V.**

We got to Hinata's house and her dad was waiting for her. I stayed away so he couldn't see me come again but I was close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Hinata tell me the truth, did you get let out of school early?" he asked.

"Yes father we did, and I got invited to a party tonight, it might last a while, so I need to get some snacks and music for it; we wanted to have a ferity of music," she told him.

"You know I don't like it when you and Neji lie to me," her dad told her.

"Yes I know, that's why I'm telling you the truth," Hinata told him. I looked over to see what was happening. Hinata was giving her dad innocent puppy dog eyes.

"You know I hate it when you give me that look," he said. She continued to look at him like that. "Fine I believe you, and you can go. Grab your stuff, it's going to be so lonely without you or Neji here," he said. Hinata went in the house.

A few minutes later she came out with lots of stuff. She came over to me.

"That's a lot of stuff," I told her.

"We-well you said you needed snacks and music right? S-so I grabbed Neji's stuff too," she said shyly. _She was so shy around other people but when she talks to her dad or Neji she is like a whole different person._

"Yeah we did, thanks," I said. "Here let me help you with some of that," I said grabbing two bags of chips and some CD's.

"T-thanks for the help," she said looking shyly to the ground.

We walked past the school and Shika's house. _They must be at the house already._ It was still a long way to go.

"So Hinata, not to be nosy or anything, but why are you always so shy innless your talking to you dad or Neji?" I asked.

"I-I don't know, I think it's just because I knew them my whole life and everyone else only for a little while," she said blushing shyly.

"Well its ok you know, we don't bite. And I'm new here, but these people are nice, I don't need to be shy around them; not that I ever was shy," I told her.

"I-I know, I'll work on it," she said smiling at me. _Hinata is such a nice person; I think we are going to become good friends._

We got to the house and went in.

"Hey guys were here!" I yelled locking the door behind me. They all came running up from the basement.

"You have a nice house for three kids who live on their own and have no money," said Sasuke.

"Yeah, well we manage to get the money to pay the bills. Witch reminders me, when you leave a room in the house and no one else is in it make sure everything in it is off," I told them.

"Guys get back down here!" Gaara yelled to them. We went down stairs. They had a bunch of snacks in bowls.

"Kankuro, Gaara, we can keep using all the bowls and plates and stuff, washing those uses water which makes the water bill go up. And you can eat chips out of the bag!" I yelled at them

"Well sorry," Gaara said angrily. "I just thought that you might like it better if they were in a bowl so that we can take the chips we want without touching other ones and getting germs on them."

"Besides when they are empty again we can put a new bag in them," Kankuro said.

"Fine whatever," I said. They smirked at me.

We turned on the music and talked. I put some blankets out for people to sleep on if they decided to stay over, and we chose to have the girls sleep in the same room as the boy because the guys are our friends and if they try something we could hurt them. Every once in a while we refilled the bowls and after a while we took out the drinks Kiba and Hinata brought. Hinata sat away from everyone and never talked. I went over to her.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"N-nothing," she said.

"Well why don't you come and talk to us then?" I asked. She started blushing. "Oh come on I know something is wrong now, why are you blushing?" I asked. She shook her head. I smiled, "Oh come on, who do you like in this room?" I asked jokingly. She blushed more. "You're so shy, I'm going to have to get the guys to drag you over to talk to us," I told her.

"N-no it's ok," she said. "I'm good here."

"Oh come on," I said. She shook her head. "Fine," I said. "Guys, we I need some assistants dragging Hinata over to there so she is involved too!" I yelled to them.

"No!" she said as the guys came over.

"Come on," said Neji as Naruto, Gaara, and Sasuke dragged her over to where we were all sitting.

When we got her over there she put her knees up, put her arms on them, and hid her face in her arms. We started to talk, but the whole time Kiba avoided looking at Hinata. _Kiba so likes her._

"So you guys want to do something besides talk?" Tenten said.

"Like what?" Lee asked.

"I don't know, play a game," she said.

"We don't have any games," Kankuro said.

"So we can play truth or dare or just go around the circle asking each other questions," Tenten said. Everyone agreed on asking each other questions.

"So Temari, what was the worst thing you ever did?" Naruto asked.

"You really want to know," I said.

"Yeah," he said.

"Well at my old school I got really mad at this girl because she was always bugging me because I was dating this guys she like. So I got him to write a letter saying to meet him some ware, when she came I tied her up. And I cut all her hair off and did some other pretty bad things. But let's just say that no one ever saw her again," I told them seriously. They were all stunned, and were quit for a while.

"Are you telling the truth?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah she is so messed up now, she is scared to go in public because she might see me," I said. "But anyways... Hinata, do you like anyone, and if so who?" I asked.

"Come on, you don't know her that well. Why would she tell you that?" Neji said.

"I don't know, but she has to now I asked," I said.

"Y-yes I do like someone," she said blushing and doing the thing with her fingers again.

"I see your getting better, not as shy," I said smiling. "So who is it?" She blushed more. "Come on, I said yes or no, and who."

"K-Kiba," she said quietly so only I could hear.

"Aw, ok," I said smiling "Don't worry I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you," she said still quietly.

"Oh come on, she has to tell everyone!" Naruto yelled.

"No I asked the question, she doesn't have to tell anyone else," I told him.

"When did we make that rule?" Gaara asked.

"I just did now, anyone else want to object to it?" I asked timidly. No one said anything. "Good," I said. The game lasted another hour and we learnt lots about each other. In the end we promised not to tell anyone else in the school; which with be hard for Hinata and Tenten sans they are popular and they have to tell the other popular kids everything, but they will make it though.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

_I really want to know who Hinata likes even though it's none of my biasness. I don't know why I want to know so badly, I never want to know anything this badly. I just act like I do until people tell me and if they really don't then I leave them alone, but I just want to bug her tell she tells me even if she really doesn't want to._

"Come on Hinata, who do you like?" Naruto, Lee, Sasuke, and Kiba asked backing her into a corner.

"Come on guys leave her alone," I told them not even looking at them.

"But we really want to know," Lee said. I walked over to them.

"I want to know too but it's not nice to harass a girl about who she likes," I told them. _Why am I defending her, I should be right in there with them._

"Come on Gaara, we want to know really badly," Naruto said turning back to her. "Come on Hinata who is it, is it one of us?"

I hit him in the nose, "leave her alone." I said calmly cracking my knuckles. He was on the floor holding his nose.

"Ah, that hurt! God damn Gaara what the hell!" he yelled. "You could have broken it!" Sasuke laughed. _Why did I just do that? It's a good thing I never broke his nose; what has gotten into me?_

"If I wanted to I would have," I said calmly. "Does anyone else want to bug her?" I said closing my eyes, no one said anything. I opened my eyes and looked at them. "Good, now go do something else," I told them and they went to the other side of the room.

"Gaara wasn't lying he could beat someone up in only one hit if he wanted too, that hurt," I heard Naruto say as they walked by. _Sorry Naruto I don't know why I did that._

"Thank you," said in a quiet little voice beside me. I looked up.

"It's no problem Hinata; I don't like seeing guys act that way to girls. I don't know why, might be because of Temari and what some guys use to do to her; they were really mean and real perverts. I been wanting to hit guys like that for a while and now I got too; it's a good thing Naruto is my friend though or I would get in trouble," I told her.

"Oh," she said shyly.

"So any chance you are going to tell me who you like?" I asked jokingly. She looked angry.

"Why would I tell you if I didn't want to tell them huh? I mean come on if you only saved me from them so you could find out then I rather of had them harassing me!" she yelled.

"Wow calm down Hinata I was just kidding, I don't have to know," I told her. _Yes I do tell me, tell me woman... Damn I have two personalities now._

"S-sorry," she said all shy again. _Wow from angry to shy and quiet in only a few seconds._

"She is hot when she is angry though," I said thinking out loud quietly not knowing it.

"W-what?" Hinata asked. I looked up.

"Huh, what, sorry I was thinking out loud. You didn't hear that did you?" I asked. _Damn I hope __she__ never._

"N-no why?" she asked.

"No reason," I said. "Come on lets go over to wear our friends are, and hopefully they won't be bugging you anymore."

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Gaara came over with Hinata and sat down.

"Why did you punch Naruto in the nose?" I asked.

"He was bugging Hinata," he mumbled.

"So what, you know what happened to the last kid you punched in the face," I said in a stern voice.

"Yeah, that's why I lightly taped him," Gaara said.

"That was a light tap?! You could have broken his nose!" Lee exclaimed.

"As a matter of fact it was a light tap compared to what he can do," Temari said. She was sitting over in the corner with Shikamaru.

"My god, I don't want to see him hit his hardest," Kiba said scared.

I smirked, "Then you better not piss him off," I said.

"I'll try not to," he replied.

A little while later we were getting tired and it was really late, but Neji and Tenten had disappeared.

"Where do you think they could have gone?" I asked.

"Probably went some ware in the house to make out," Naruto joked. _Amazing he got hurt just a while ago for bugging someone and now he is at it again._ We searched the house for a while. I went and looked in the rooms upstairs; Gaara wasn't too happy that I was going to go in his without him but I had to. Gaara's was the last room to check, I opened the door. _Oh god, I forgot about all this sand._ I climbed up the sand hill into the room. When I got in I just saw a head disappears into the quick sand we had made. I ran over and reached in. I felt at hand and grabbed it and pulled up. It was Tenten.

"T-thank you," she said gasping for air.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Neji and I stepped on the quick sand and out feet sunk in and we couldn't get out," she told me. "...Oh crap, Neji!" she yelled and reached into the sand. I reached in to help her look. We found him and pulled him out too.

"Why the hell dose your brother have quick sand in his room!" Neji yelled.

"We got bored one day and made it," I told him.

"So your part of the reason that we got stuck in there, people can die in that you know!" he said still yelling.

"I think that was Gaara's plan, so that if anyone came in they would be sucked in and killed. Why were you in here anyways?" I asked.

Tenten blushed, "No reason," she said. I didn't question them anymore, if they wanted to keep it to their self's than they could.

When we go back down stairs we heard Temari and Gaara yelling at each other.

"He isn't sleeping by you; you can go sleep on the other side of the room with Tenten and Hinata!" Gaara yelled at her.

"You're not the boss of me, I can sleep ware ever I want!" she yelled back, "Or would you prefer it if Shikamaru and I went up stairs to my room and slept in my bed?" Gaara mumbled something. "He is not sleeping outside! And I think Tenten would like sleeping by Neji, it's not like we're going to do anything; and if we did you would hear us," Temari told him smirking.

"You know what fine whatever, I don't care, because I know you wouldn't do anything with him!" Gaara yelled. Then he went to go make his bed.

Everyone was on the other side of the room stunned not moving. Tenten, Neji, and I walked over to them.

"Hey guys look who I found," I said. They turned to us and pretended they never just saw or heard what just happened. "They were in Gaara's room dying in the quick sand," I told them.

"Gaara has quick sand? I want to see!" Naruto yelled, running to the stairs. Sasuke grabbed the caller of his shirt; which made him choke himself. "Let go I want to see!" he yelled.

"I don't think Gaara wants people in his room, that's why there is quick sand there," Sasuke said still holding the caller tightly. Naruto frowned, Sasuke let go. "If you try to run up there I will grab you again and this time I won't let you go," he told him. Naruto sat down and gloomed.

**Temari P.O.V.**

Shika and I set up our beds by each other.

"Do you have to sleep by me? I mean I said I wanted to go out with you but were not going steady or anything and I don't like it when you are too close to me," he told me not looking at me wile fixing his bed.

"Yes I do I want to prove a point to Gaara. And why is it that you don't like me getting close to you? I thought you would love that you finally get to be that close," I said.

He looked at me and frowned, "I thought I would too but I don't," he said sadly.

"And why not," I asked.

"I don't know," Shikamaru replied.

"Well you will just have to get use to it like I said, and if you don't want me here I'll be by Hinata," I told him.

"No, It's ok, you can stay here and prove your point," he told me.

I smiled, "Thank you," I said.

I looked over to see what everyone else was doing; they were making their beds too. Then I saw Hinata and my smile faded. She was making her bed but she was all alone on the other side of the room. _Maybe Tenten and I should go to the other side of the room so she has company._ Then I saw Naruto and Kiba go over to her. They talked to her; I couldn't hear what they said; and then she got up shyly and took her stuff over ware they were going to sleep, and re-made her bed by theirs but far enough away. I didn't feel so bad after seeing them invite her over, now she won't be lonely.

We all went to bed because we were tired, but by me Shika couldn't sleep.

"What's the matter?" I asked in a whisper to him.

"I really think you sleeping by me was a bad idea," he whispered back.

"Well then why did you change your mind and say I could sleep by you? I would have respected that you never wanted me to sleep here and moved," I told him.

"But I do want you to sleep here, I just...it's complicated," Shika said.

"So I guess it wouldn't help if I used you as a pillow because mine isn't soft enough," I said smiling.

"Probably not...why do you want to use me as a pillow anyways? What makes you think I'm any softer?" he asked.

"Nothing I..." I heard someone move.

"We have to be quieter, or someone will wake up," I said.

"Gaara probably is awake and watching us, I mean why would he sleep when you and I are sleeping this close to each other," he said.

"You're probably right, what to see if he is?" I asked.

"Depends, how would we check?" he asked.

"Like this," I said kissing him on the lips.

He blushed, and turned the other way. I saw someone get up and they started coming over to us. _I bet its Gaara._

"What the hell was that!" he yelled, _Yeah defiantly Gaara._

"Calm down Gaara it was nothing god, I just wanted to see if you were watching us; and you were; that was all. And you got to stop yelling everyone will wake up," I told him in a whisper.

"Fine I'll be quieter, but why the hell would you kiss him just to see if I was watching you," he said whispering now.

"Because I knew it would work; and even if you weren't watching I got to kiss him. And besides it's not like we did anything else, it was just a peck on the lips," I told him.

"We'll look at him now he is facing away from you and blushing. I don't think he is old enough to have a girlfriend because most guys wouldn't have turned away, they would have turned it into more than just a peck on the lips," Gaara said.

"So you want me to date older guys that would do that?" I asked.

"No, I just don't want you dating him anymore. You like him too much and I don't know what this is going to turn into," he told me.

"Why are you always on my case about guys; you are one; and plus I was his friend first so we know each other well. And I have had many boyfriends before; I know how to handle myself. You don't have to act like a father to me; I am older than you anyways. Also if you get married and have kids and have a girl she will hate you if you are like this to her," I told him angrily.

"I'm on you case because I know what guys are like; like you said I am one; and I know you know each other well and that you were friends, that's why I'm worried because if it doesn't work out than that friendship and be ruined. And I know you had boyfriends before and you know how to handle yourself with them; but you like Shikamaru way more than any other guy you dated; so the question is, do you have any self control? And if I ever do get married and had a girl she will thank me one day for being so hard on her about guys, because she will realize when she is older that I helped her through tough things and stopped her from doing things that could affect her future in a bad way," Gaara told me.

"Gaara you grew up too fast," I told him. "You know all the answers and mom and dad leaving has forced you to become a father too soon; and it's to me none the less; even though you are younger; because you knew that if you never stopped me, like dad would have, from doing some things that it could have wrecked my future and I would have been miserable," I started to cry. "Thank you, but you don't have to be a father anymore, be a kid you only have a few years left before you are all grown up and you need to have some fun. Don't worry about me anymore I'll be fine; you know Shikamaru is a nice guy," I said standing up and hugging him. "Mom and dad would be proud of you for protecting me for them, but they wanted us to not have to worry about being adults until we actually are suppose to. They wanted us to just be kids." Gaara pushed me away.

"Don't hug me when you are crying you got me wet. You know what just don't hug me at all, I don't like hugs," he said.

"Yeah I know you never liked anyone hugging you, just mom," I laughed.

"Well I'm going to go back to bed now, and I guess I'll leave you guys alone," he said with a sigh and walked away.

I sat up, "Shika what's wrong?" I asked in a whisper.

"Nothing I'm tired," he whispered back.

"I'm starting to think you don't like me," I told him sadly.

"No I really do, it's just I don't know. I never had a girlfriend before and I don't know, it's different," he told me.

I laughed, "Well it's something you will get use too. Want me to kiss you again so you get use to it faster?" I asked.

"No it's ok, I'm good for now. I'm tired," he told me, and we went to sleep.


	8. Itachi? Sasuke's Life, You're Alone Too?

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

When I woke up the next morning I heard banging on the door upstairs, so I went up to see who it was. I opened the door and Itachi was standing there.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Is my brother here, I need to have a word with him," he said coldly.

"Uh, I'll go look. Why don't you come in and wait, I'll be right back," I told him. He walked in and closed the door behind him.

I went back down stairs. Sasuke was sitting up against the wall with his knees up resting his head on them. I walked over to him.

"Your brother is at the door," I told him in a whisper.

He lifted his head up, "What does he want?" Sasuke asked.

"He asked if you were here," I told him.

He looked scared now, "What did you say?" he asked.

"I told him I would go look. Look he is waiting for you why don't you go up and see him," I told him.

"Listen, go back up there and tell him you can't find me," he told me.

"Why?" I asked.

"You don't need to know why just do it, and if he asks if he can come in and see tell him no," Sasuke told me; he was a little angry now.

"Fine, fine, I'll go tell him. But you have to tell me why after," I said getting up.

"Whatever," he said coldly.

_Sasuke is so like his brother. They're both cold; only Itachi is more so than he is; and they have a really bad attitude, its like "just do what I say or want and something bad won't happen to you". I mean he pushed that popular girl off the roof of the school. He is a bad influence and I hope they find out he did it. We were all calm at the time we found out because we didn't want to make a commotion, but I could tell some people were scared at what he might do to them if they made him mad. Naruto couldn't hide it he was so scared because he actually saw him do it. Gaara did too but I don't know what he was thinking he is kind of complicated. But Kiba under all the laughing about it and joking and everything I could tell he was scared of Sasuke. That's _

_probably what Sasuke likes though, having people fear him and have them do what he wants because they think he is going to hurt or kill them. I wonder what Itachi is really like and if he and Sasuke are that much the same, or if Sasuke is only half as bad as his brother._

I got upstairs and went back to Itachi.

"Well?" he asked his voice still cold.

"I couldn't find him," I told him calmly.

"Can I come in and see then?" he asked.

"No, sorry everyone else is still sleeping and I don't want to wake them. And I assure you Sasuke isn't here," I said.

"Fine I'll wait until he gets home. And you better have not lied to me for him, or his punishment will be much worse," Itachi said turning to go out the door.

"Why are you going to punish him, shouldn't your parents be doing that?" I asked.

He stopped. Then he started to laugh, "Our parents are dead," he told me. "I have all the right to punish him sans I am older and he is living with me; and it can be as bad as I want it to be, so is there anything you want to tell me?"

"No, I swear he isn't here," I said.

"Very well then, but I will find out the truth when he gets home. No matter what," he said smirking and walking out the door.

I went back down stairs and told Sasuke that he was gone.

"Ok, did he tell you anything?" he asked.

"Not really," I said.

Sasuke stared at me. "You're lying," he said. "What did he tell you?"

I told Sasuke what Itachi told me. "And how did you know I was lying anyways?" I asked him after.

"Just by the way your eyes and face looked," he told me. "So Itachi probably knows you lied, because he is better at tell if someone lies than me. I really don't want to go home now." He crossed his arms on his knees and put his face in them.

"Is Itachi really that bad?" I asked.

"Yeah he is that's why he came to get me. He thought I was going to run away for real this time probably. But sans he could tell that you were lying about me not being here he knows I'm just going to go home, like I always do, and let him punish me," he said quietly into his knees.

"So for the past few years you just have been sitting there letting him do that to you and letting people bug you, and not doing anything about it?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I can't take it anymore and I'm going to do something about those people; like I did to Sakura; I just can't do anything about my brother because I still have to live with he," he told me. I could tell he was hiding his face because he was crying.

"Ok, well I'm just going to leave you alone now," I told him getting up.

"Ok," he said, and I went to go make breakfast for everyone.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I woke up and looked at the time, it was still pretty yearly in the morning but some people were up and whispering to each other in the corner of the room. Tenten, Neji, and Lee were talking about something on one side of the room in one corner, and in the other Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata were talking quietly. _Hinata has actually stopped being shy around us and it's only been one day._

I looked to the other side of the room and saw Sasuke sitting there. He was sitting there with his head down and was taking something from in his pocket. I saw a blade shine in the light and went over to him quickly and quietly as he raised it. When I got to him a grabbed his arm to stop him, "What do you think you're doing," I whispered angrily.

"Why does it matter to you?" he asked coldly ripping his arm from my grip and lowering it.

"You're my friend and I don't want you hurting yourself," I told him.

He smirked, "You don't really mean that," he said looking up at me; his eyes filled with pain and anger.

"Yes I do," I told him. "But if I can't stop you from doing it at least do it were no one else can see you and stop you."  
He hid his face in his hair. "Fine," he said. "But you're only saying that so that if someone dose try to stop me I won't hurt them."

He walked into the bathroom on the other side of the room. Naruto looked up when the door slammed shut. "Is he mad or something?" he asked.

"Never mind," I said going over to where he was sitting with Kiba and Hinata. When I got there and sat down Hinata started to blush. "So where are Temari, Shikamaru, and Kankuro?" I asked them.

"I think they are upstairs," Kiba told me.

"Yeah there making us breakfast," said Naruto.

"And why are they making you breakfast, you can do it yourself or at least help," I said.

"Well sorry if they offered and told us to wait until we were called up," he told me.

"Whatever," I said. "I'm going up to help."

When I got upstairs I saw only Kankuro in the kitchen cooking, and offered to help. "Well thank you Gaara," he said. "You're usually one of the ones waiting for me to make it for you."

"Yeah well there is too many people today to make you do it yourself," I told him flipping an egg over. "So where are Temari and Shikamaru?" Kankuro hesitated to answer. "What?" I asked.

"It's just that they told me not to tell you that's all. They didn't want you going after them," he told me. "And besides you told Temari you wouldn't interfere anymore."

"Where are they?" I asked angrily. "If you don't tell me you will regret it."

"They just went for a walk to, that's all so don't get so worked up, they will be back for breakfast if that's what you're worried about," he told me. I let out a sigh, _good thing_ _they're not doing what I thought they were doing._

Breakfast took a little longer to make than normal, even with two people, because there were so many people to feed. Since we didn't want to dirty lots of dishes we just put out plates for them to put their food on and food left it in the pans on the stove to keep warm. Just as we put the plates out Temari and Shikamaru came in through the back door laughing. "Hey Gaara, is breakfast done?" she ask.

"Yeah, I'm just going to go get everyone." I told her going down stairs.

When I got there I told everyone to go upstairs and then went to the bathroom door and banged on it. "Sasuke you've been in there long enough now get out. You're lucky I even let you go in there and do that!" I yelled at him through the door.

"I'm not hungry, now go away!" he yelled back.

"I can open this door even if its lock. Now get out!" I yelled more angrily. The handle on the door clicked and turned, and the door swung open.

The water in the sink was running, and the knife was sitting on the edge of it. Sasuke had his hair in his face and had cuts on his wrists that were bleeding. I pushed him back in to the bathroom, and I grabbed the knife. "Get the bleeding to stop, clean yourself up, and hide the scars!" I yelled at him.

"Fine," he said. "But get out."

"No," I told him. "You will find something else to use and then never come out. You're just lucky I don't tell everyone about this, you'd be bugged about it until you stopped, and you would feel bad that you made your friends feel sorry for you."

"Fine stay," he said. "And how do you know I would even care if you told everyone and made them feel sorry about me."

"Because I know your type, and just because your brother came here looking for you and your scared he is going to do something when you get home doesn't mean you need to do this. And yes I know all about it, Kankuro told me." I said. He looked away from me and walked over to the sink to clean up, and as he did I saw the tears falling into the sink but I never said anything. _He must have such and bad life at home to be doing this._

When he was done he put on his wrist guards and we went up stairs. We grabbed our plates and food and went and sat in the living room with everyone else who was almost done eating. They didn't say anything about why we took so long because they all knew about Sasuke locking himself in the bathroom; Naruto had told Shikamaru, Temari, and Kankuro about it. After Naruto was done he went and whispered something in Sasuke's ear, and he whispered back. But then they just got louder and louder. "I'm not going to live at your house, I'm in enough trouble with my brother as it is!" he yelled.

"So, he doesn't know where I live what's he going to do to you?" Naruto asked.

"I don't want to talk about the stuff he could, and would do if I ran away and he found me! And besides it's not like your mom and dad are going to let me live there they would send me home! I mean look at me! I'm a wreck, I hurt myself, and I have a bad attitude, no one wants their kid to talk to me, let alone look at me!" Sasuke yelled at him tears filling up in his eyes.

Naruto talked more sympathetic now, "None of that matters your my friend, and parents aren't a problem," he told him.

"Sure they are, they won't want me," Sasuke said crying.

"It's doesn't matter if they do or not they can't do anything." Naruto told him. "They're dead."

Everyone looked at him. "What," Kiba said. "I've been your friend for so long and you have never once told me this."

"Yeah well I didn't know what you or your parents would think so I never said anything. But since these three can trust all of us with knowing, then I might as well trust you guys too. I rather have all four of us go down if anyone told then just them because I was too scared to say anything," he told him.

Sasuke looked up at him, "You're sure I wouldn't be a burden to you?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm sure, it's getting kind of lonely in my house too," Naruto said.

Sasuke gave him a little smile, "Thank you," he said.

After every one was done eating Temari, Shikamaru, and Kankuro took our dishes and went to clean up. "None of you are going to tell my brother were I'm going to be, right?" Sasuke asked. He looked happier now knowing he wouldn't have to live with his brother anymore.

"Of cores we won't, were your friends and we want you do be happy," Tenten told him.

"Yeah, you were starting to scare us you know," Lee said.

"I'm sorry I just been feeling really bad lately," he told them.

"Maybe it's because you just killed someone," Neji said with his arms cross looking down. Everyone looked at him, we had almost forgotten about that. "You took your anger towards your brother on a girl who has been bugging you for a while and now you regret it and hate yourself for it."

"She deserved it though!" Sasuke yelled at him.

"No one deserves to die, for any reason," he told him.

Sasuke looked away from him angrily. "Whatever," he said coldly.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"So how was your walk?" Kankuro asked Shikamaru and I.

"Good, it's a nice day out today. We should all go do something," I told him. I was sitting at the table watching Kankuro and Shikamaru clean; I never did like doing anything around the house that involved work.

"Why aren't you helping us?" Shikamaru asked.

"She never helps with anything innless you make her, she doesn't like doing work around the house," Kankuro told him. I gave Kankuro a "shut up" look.

"So do you just expect your husband, or roommate, or whatever to do all the house work for you when you move out?" Shikamaru asked me.

"Maybe, it depends how much work it will be. I'll probably do the easy jobs and make the other person do everything else," I told him smirking.

"Well what if he doesn't want to do anything either?" he asked. They were drying the dishes and putting them away now.

"I'm not worried about that, but if he doesn't want to do anything either and we have kids then after the kids are old enough we can make them do the house work," I told him. He turned and looked at me.

"Ok, so were all done now let's go back to the other room," said Kankuro pushing Shikamaru to the door as I fallowed.

When we go there Sasuke and Neji were on opposite sides of the room with their backs to each other, and everyone else were sitting in the middle ignoring them. I went over and sat by Hinata.

"What happened?" I asked her in a whisper.

"Sasuke was feeling down and Neji told him it was because he felt guilty for killing Sakura, and then Sasuke got mad and went over there away from him," she told me.

"Well that's stupid," I said getting up. I went over to Tenten and told her to get Neji back over to where everyone else was, and then I went to Naruto and told him to do the same thing for Sasuke. Then I went and sat back down with Hinata. Tenten got Neji over here with no problem, but Naruto had to yell at Sasuke and practically drag him back. "Let go of me before I hurt you," Sasuke said coldly. "I want to be alone."

"It's not healthy being alone as much as you are, so I don't care what you do your coming to be with your friends!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke jerked away from Naruto and stood up. "Leave me alone," he said poking in hard in the chest. Naruto fell over.

"No, I will not leave you alone! You need to be with your friends, and I don't care what it takes to get you over there!" Naruto yelled at him trying to get up, but Sasuke put his foot on him to hold him down.

"No and I'm not going to live with you either, I'll end up killing you within the week. I rather live with my brother then lash out at you and kill you," he told him coldly lifting his foot up and heading to the door. _Sasuke is such a pain._

Before he could get to the door though and Naruto could get up to stop him Lee rushed over to him. "Out of my way Lee, or I'll hurt you too," Sasuke told him coldly.

"I don't think you would, nor do I think you could," Lee told him smirking.

"Just watch," he said going to push him against the door. But Lee moved out of the way and grabbed Sasuke's hands, and held him behind his back. "What the," Sasuke said.

"You may have the strength to fight me, and if I wouldn't have moved you probably could have hurt me. But I have years of training in martial arts, as do Tenten and Neji, and I know how to block and counter your moves while you're and sitting duck," Lee told him turning him around and forcing him back to the group as Naruto was just getting up. "And don't even try to get to get up and leave or I will go after you again and thins time I won't let go," Lee told him in a whisper in his ear letting go and pushing him down to the ground to sit in-between Kiba, and were Naruto was moving to sit. Then Lee went at sat beside Neji and Kankuro, across from Sasuke.

"Sasuke why is it always a fight with you?" I asked.

"I just don't like people telling me what to do," he replied coldly, his hair hiding his face.

"So that doesn't mean you have to pick fights with your friends. I don't like being told what to do either, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go beat all my friends up so they don't. At least try to be reasonable," I told him with a sigh.

"Yeah Sasuke were just trying to help you, we don't like it when you're like this, because we know you are in pain," Naruto told him. "And Kankuro, Temari, Gaara, Neji, and I can relate to the pain you have about you not having parents we know how you feel. We just don't know what it's like to live with a brother like yours, so at least try to help us understand."

Sasuke looked at him and started to cry. "I know, I just wish my life wasn't so messed up," he told him looking down to hide his face in his hair.

"Well come live with me, that will be one thing in your life fixed, and you have all these people as friends that will help wont it? And if you need anything else tell us, we will help," Naruto told him.

"Thank you," he said.

It was almost lunch now we had been sitting in the living room talking for so long that we lost track of time. "Oh no, we have martial arts lessons today if we don't go now were going to miss them!" Tenten said getting up and running over to get her jacket.

"Slow down we will just get one of our parents to come drive us," Lee said.

"No, they can't know where we live or they will ask to talk to our parent, and we don't want to have to make up another reason to why they can't come talk," I told them getting up.

"Well the four of us aren't going to make it there without a ride," Neji said not moving or really caring at all.

"Four, I thought it was just you, Lee, and Tenten," I said.

"No Hinata is in it too, she is one level higher than us," Lee told me as Kankuro went to go get the phone.

"Here," he said. "Call someone and tell them you will be on your way to your lessons and to pullover and pick you up when they see you, if you don't get there first."

So Tenten called her parents, but they were busy. Then Lee tried and his mom and dad weren't even home. Lee gave the phone to Neji. "Why are you giving it to me, my uncle isn't going to come because I tell him we are late. Get Hinata to call, he will come for her," he told him still not moving or having a caring sound in his voice. So Lee gave the phone to Hinata and she called. She told her dad that they were going to be late if they don't get a ride to their lessons and that they were going to start walking, and if he saw them to pullover and pick them up. He agreed. So they said good bye and went on their way to their lessons.

I could tell that Sasuke knew he could leave now and no one could stop him, but he didn't. Soon Kiba had to leave because he needed to walk his dog and knew his sister wouldn't do it for him. Kiba got up to get his coat, and Naruto got up with him. "I should go too, even though there is no reason for me to, but I guess I could go home and set up a room for Sasuke," he said pulling on Sasuke's shirt to tell him to come. Sasuke got up and got his coat too. "Bye guys," he said, and left. It was just Kankuro, Gaara, Shikamaru, and I left now.


	9. Temari's Job, The Necklace

**Temari P.O.V.**

Shikamaru got up and went to the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Oh, umm... I need to get home to help my mom with some stuff at work," he told me.

"You help your mom at work?" Kankuro asked.

"Yeah, well no," he replied. "My mom stopped giving me money for chores, and said that I'm old enough that I should get a job. So I work at the family shop now." He put on his coat. "So I'll be seeing you guys later." He opened the door to leave.

"Wait, can I come with you and help?" I asked.

"Well I don't know, I guess you could come and ask," he told me.

I jumped up and grabbed my coat, "Ok," I said, and then it turned to Kankuro and Gaara. "You guys better not break any of my stuff while I'm gone," I told them.

"Oh come on, when have we ever went into your room while you were gone?" Kankuro asked. I raised an eyebrow at him. "One time!" he yelled angrily. "One time I did, and I was cleaning, are you never going to let me forget it!"

"No I'm not, your just lucky we're even, or I would have hurt you when you told me," I said keeping calm.

"I'm still mad you broke one of my favourite ones, the thing I broke of yours wasn't even as valuable!" he was still yelling, Shikamaru was looking confused.

"Well at least you can fix yours!" I yelled at him. "Come on Shika," I said grabbing his hand and pulling him out the door.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Gaara was sitting on a chair smirking at me. "You know she is right," he said. I looked at him confused. "You can and know how to fix your little dolls a fan is much harder to fix, and sometimes you can't fix them at all. Like in this case, it's a small fan with a big hole in it, you can't fix that. If I were her I would have hurt you."

"She has lots more," I said looking away from him. "And they're not dolls," I muttered walking away.

"Well the one you broke was one of the ones from mom!" Gaara yelled after me.

I never knew the fan I broke was from our mom, if I did I would have cared more that I broke it and less that she broke one of my puppets. _It's strange that she never really acted like she cared much that it was broken. She just cared that we were even because she broke one of my puppets._ I walked into my room. There were puppets everywhere, some were big, some were small, and some I had put in glass display cases on my shelf; those were the really good ones. I sat on my bed; it was also shaped like a puppet; to think.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I got up from my chair and went to the window to look outside. There were lots of people walking around out there so I closed the curtain so people couldn't look in. No one ever bothered to come to this house because no one knew who we were. Sometimes coming home I hear people talking about the house, kids daring other kids to ring the doorbell and run, and once one of the people that lived next door was going to bring over a cake or something; but chickened out at the last secant and went back and tossed it out.

I was going to play a prank on some of the people here but Temari and Kankuro kept telling me not to, because they will know it was someone in this house and actually come and could find out we are living without parents. So I haven't got to yet, but one of these days I will and it will be big.

I went to my room and climbed up the sand hill into my room. I went and looked at the quick sand. _I wonder if Tenten or Neji lost something good in here when they got sucked in._ I stuck my hand in and grabbed around, when I couldn't find anything I actually jumped in to look. When I finally got really deep into the sand, almost to the floor, I found a necklace. Then I grabbed a rope, I had hidden in the quick sand; that was tied to the back of my bed and buried under sand; and I climbed back out. The necklace had Tenten's name on it. It sparkled in the light, and was a sliver color. _Well this is no good. I don't want a necklace with Tenten's name on it, but since I found it I should get something out of it. I'll tell her I found it but will only give it back if she gives me something else for it._ I shoved the necklace in my pocket, went and turned on my music, and lied down on my bed.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"You can let go of my hand now," Shikamaru said as we came close to his house.

"Oh, right, sorry," I said letting go. I had pulled him all the way to his house.

"What were you guys talking about back there that got you so mad?" he asked.

I gave him a dirty look. "Nothing," I snapped.

"Alright, sorry for asking," he said.

"No, I'm sorry. What I meant was I'll tell you later," I said sweetly.

"Uh, huh," he said rolling his eyes.

When we got up to the house Shikamaru's mom opened the door. "Oh good your here," she said out of breath. "Hurry jump in the car, your dad called and said there is a rush of people at the store and he needs help."

"Uh, can I change first?" Shikamaru asked still in his costume; he was the only one who never brought a change of clothes.

"Yah sure, just hurry up," she said letting him in and running to start up the car. When the car was started she came over to me. "So did everyone go home, or did you just leave them all there because they were getting annoying?" she asked. I looked at her with a confused look on my face. "The people at yours and your brother's party," she said.

"Oh, yeah, they all went home. Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Hinata had to go to martial arts lessons, Naruto just left, Sasuke needed to go home, and Kiba had to go walk his dog because his sister wasn't going to," I told her.

"And Gaara and Kankuro are?" She asked.

"At home, hopefully cleaning up," I told her.

"Oh, and what about your mom and dad?" she asked.

"Left for work as soon as soon as everyone left, and just before me and Shikamaru left," I said.

"Oh?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah they work lots, they are hardly ever home, and when they are they are resting. So Gaara, Kankuro, and I cook and clean for them," I told her.

"Well that's very nice of you to do that for them," she said smiling.

Just then Shikamaru came running out of the house. "Ok, I'm ready to go now," he said coming up to us. "Oh yeah, mom, can Temari get a job at the store?" he asked.

"Well I don't know it sounds like she is busy at home," his mom said.

"Yeah, but my mom and dad don't give me money for helping around the house anymore because I'm the oldest helping now. They told me that if I wanted money I had to get a job because they can't afford to pay all three of us. Plus Kankuro dose most of the cleaning and 

cooking now and Gaara dose whatever is left over, so I don't really have anything to do now," I told her hopping she would say yes for a job.

"Well then I guess I have no choice but to say yes. We need an extra hand anyways," she said holding out her hand for a hand shake.

I took her hand excitedly and shook it, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I said happily.

"Ok, ok, settle down," she said. "Now get into the car you guys, we really need to get to the store to help."


	10. Real Brothers Now?

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I got up off my bed and walked over to my bedroom door._ Well I guess it's time to clean up the mess._ I walked over to Gaara's room and bang on the door. "Gaara get out here!" I yelled to him. There was no reply, but I could hear his music playing. I opened the door, and went into his room. Then I went over to the radio and turned it off.

"What was that for!" he yelled at me.

"You need to help me clean up the house!" I yelled back.

"No I don't," he said coldly turning the radio back on with his controller for it.

I walked over to him, grabbed the controller, turned the radio off, and put the controller on top of it. "Your helping, we need it done before Temari gets back," I told him calmly now.

"Why can't you and Temari do it?" he asked.

"Because Temari might have a job now, so we have to do the stuff around the house. She is going to get money to pay for things and in return we are going to keep the house clean," I told him.

"Fine," he sighed and got off his bed. "I'll do the basement." He left his room.

After Gaara brought up all the dishes from the basement I cleaned them. I also cleaned all the ones from breakfast, and clean the rest of the floor. I didn't bother to do Gaara's room because it was full of sand and would get dirty again. But I did clean my room and Temari's room. After carefully cleaning both rooms I went into the basement to see how Gaara was doing. When I got there I saw that everything was clean and the bathroom was sparkling. My mouth dropped in surprise. "Gaara, it's so clean!" I said happily.

"Well you said I had to, so I thought I might as well do a good job," he sighed. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going for a walk."  
"Wait I need you help with something," I told him.

"What now?" he said angrily.

"Come with me," I said. I took him to Temari's room. "Witch of them is valuable to her?" I asked.

"Not the one you broke, that's for sure," Gaara said crossing his arms. I gave him a stern look. "What makes you think I even know?" he said angrily.

"Because you knew about the one from mom and dad," I said.

"So maybe she told me a little about them when I was younger, and maybe I remember what she said," Gaara said with a smirk.

"Come on Gaara please, I want to do something nice for her to say sorry for breaking that fan," I told him.

"Fine," Gaara said uncrossing his arms with a sigh. "Do you want to know about all of them, or just the little ones, or the big ones?" he asked.

"Just the little ones," I said. So Gaara told me what he remembered about the little fans.

**Temari P.O.V.**

The store parking lot was filled when we got there, but luckily Shikamaru's parents had spots for workers only. It was a regular sized store that had mostly food init. There was, however, a small section of the store that had toys, and another that had books. There were only 3 checkout tills, and Shikamaru's dad was working the only one open. We went over to him to see what he needed us to do. "Ah good, your here," he said. "Hello Temari, come to help?" he asked.

"Mom gave her a job here," Shikamaru told him.

"Good, we need more hands around here," his dad said. "Ok, Shikamaru you take one of the other tills, you're good at that." Shikamaru nodded and opened the till next to his dads, and as soon as he did there was a rush of people that went over to form a second line. "And you two can clean up the messes, I'm sure there are lots by now," he told Shikamaru's mom and I. We nodded and went to the back to get brooms.

"Why did we get the cleaning job?" I asked.

"Same reason I only come help out Shikamaru and his dad at the store when there is a big emergency. Mr. Nara and Shikamaru think women should just stay home to cook and clean for the men in the house," Mrs. Nara told me.

I was shocked; I didn't know Shikamaru was like that. "Are you serious?" I asked.

"Yes, Shikamaru use to love to have me at the store; he was a real momma's boy. He would always ask every night if I could come with them the next day, but soon Mr. Nara taught him that it was better if I stayed home. "Women are meant to stay home to cook and clean for us Shikamaru." I would hear him say when I walked by Shikamaru's room at night. "Men are the ones who should be providing for the family." It was so sad," Mrs. Nara sighed. "Then whenever I asked if they needed help at the store Shikamaru would tell me what his father told him. So the only reason I come now is because we don't have any staff to work here, and still I only 

come on days like this. And every time I get stuck cleaning so that Shikamaru doesn't have to do "a women's job"." Mrs. Nara handed me a broom.

"But he told me that he needed to help _you _with stuff at work and that he _just started_ working here because _you_ said he was old enough to get a job, and that I could ask for one," I told her.

Mrs. Nara sighed. "Of cores he would say that to you, you're his friend he wouldn't want you to know how he really is; he thinks you won't want to be his friend if you know. And he was probably hoping it was a slow day, so that you guys could walk to the store and not see me. So that you would ask Mr. Nara and he would say no so you wouldn't get the job. But since it wasn't, and I drove you, he asked me so that you wouldn't question him about asking his father instead of me," she told me. "Well I guess we should start cleaning up messes. You go look over there," she said pointing to were the books and toys were. "And I'll look over here. Come fine me if you need help with something," she told me as she started to walk to where the frozen goods were.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

After I told him about the little fans Kankuro made me help him build glass display cases, like the ones in his room, for them. I was very mad at him for making me do all this work. _He thinks that because I'm younger than him that he can boss me around. Well Temari is the oldest and is the main boss of this house. When she gets home I'm telling her about him making me do all this work, instead of letting me go outside. She likes me better anyways, and is still mad at Kankuro for not helping to take care of me when I was little just because he hates kids. She will think that the only reason he made me do all this is because he thinks he has power over me when Temari isn't home. Well he doesn't, and if all this wasn't for Temari then I would be outside looking for my friends right now; and he would be doing all this work himself. _A smile went across my face.

Once we had one display case done Kankuro grab a fan and went to put it in the case. It slipped out of his hands and started to fall to the floor. I reached out my hand and caught it before it hit the ground. "I thought Temari said not to break any of her things," I said looking up at him with a smirk on my face. He tried to take the fan from me but I pulled it away. "I don't think we can trust you with these fans. They're very easy to break as you already know," I told him pointing at the one with the hole in it.

"Come on Gaara it was an accident that I broke it, and it was an accident that I dropped this one," he said reaching for it again, but I moved it away.

"You're very accident prone aren't you," I said getting up, and put it in the case myself.

"Well that's why I have you here," Kankuro said rudely.

"Admit it, you just don't like me. You don't like anything about me, you never did. That's why you never helped Temari raise me, and the only reason you even talk to me now is because you think you can boss me around. Well you can't. If we weren't doing this for Temari I would be gone outside right now were you can't find me, and I wouldn't be back until Temari got home. Then you wouldn't have to talk or look at me, and you would be happier then you are now," I said coldly.

"None of that it true Gaara, none of it!" Kankuro yelled. "You're my little brother I love you, I can't believe that's what you think!"

"Of cores it's true," I said glaring at him.

Kankuro went and sat on Temari's bed. "Gaara I swear to you what you think isn't true," he said sadly. "I never helped Temari raise you because I thought I would mess things up, and then later I'd have a bad relationship with you. But I guess by not helping I did the exact thing that I feared would happen if I did. And I'm sorry if it seems like I'm bossing you around and that's the only reason I talk to you, but it's not. I want to build that relationship I messed up. I'm not trying to boss you around, but it's the only way you will actually do something for or with me. But I guess since you thought that this whole time, you just hated me more every time I tried," he sighed. "I thought doing this would help us bond, but the whole time you just been wishing you were gone outside and you have been bugging me this whole time probably hoping that I kicked you out. And every time I try to do something with you we end up fighting." I sat back down on the floor and started working on the second case. "I wanted to do this for Temari to tell her I'm sorry, but I also wanted to do it with you. I knew that the only way you would agree to do something with me is if Temari told you to, or if we were doing something for Temari. I know you like Temari because she has been a parent and a sister to you your whole life. And as you got older you started to try to be a parent to her for some things. I know you and I can't be like that, but we can at least be brothers to each other like it should have been like in the first place."

I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything; I just put the finishing touches on the case and put a fan in it, then put it on the shelf by the other one. I could tell that Kankuro was telling me the truth, he really did love me. "Can you hand me that glass," I paused for a second. "Please," I said.

Kankuro looked shocked. Probably because I never said please, or thank you, to anyone but Temari. "O-Ok," he said getting up and handing it to me.

"Thank you," I said. He just stood there shocked. "What?" I asked. "You said you wanted to build a relationship with me, and I decided to actually help a little," I told him.

Kankuro bent down and hugged me. "Maybe we can be proper brothers after all," he said to me.

"Maybe," I whispered and hugging him back.


	11. Deidara?

**Temari P.O.V.**

It was still kind of busy at the store but I decided to take a lunch break because there wasn't really anything to clean up. I went over to Shika who was still busy at the checkout. "Shika I need some money," I told him.

"I'm busy right now can you come ask later?" he asked.

"No, I'm thirsty I need a can of juice," I said stubbornly.

"Fine, go get one and then I'll scan and pay for it," he sighed. So I went over to where the drinks were.

On the way back I bumped into someone. "Watch were your going," I said angrily looking up. It was Deidara. He was wearing a black shirt with a fish-net V and fish-net short sleeves, black jeans, and he wasn't warring his gloves so his tattoos there clearly visible.

"Oh, hello Temari," he said. "I'm sorry."

I started to blush. I never saw him without his Akatsuki uniform on before, and he was looking pretty hot. "Oh its ok I didn't know it was you," I told him shyly.

The Sasori came up behind him. He was wringing a brown T-shirt with a weird design on it and some blue jeans. "Well if it isn't "Breaks up with her boy friend's at dances" Temari," he said. "But you're still pretty hot; you want to get together with me?"

"Oh come on Sasori leave her alone," Deidara told him.

Sasori crossed his arms. "Whatever," he said.

"So Temari, what brings you here?" Deidara asked.

"Oh, I'm helping Shikamaru and his parents. It's their store," I told him.

"Doesn't look like you're doing much work, and why are you so red?" Kisame asked coming from the sea food area. He was wearing a plane blue shirt and some blue jeans.

"Oh um, I'm taking a break," I told him.

"That doesn't answer why you're red," Itachi said emotionlessly coming behind Kisame. He was wearing a black sweater and blue jeans.

"I-I was working hard," I said.

They all lifted their eyebrows except for Deidara. "Come on guys leave her alone," he said.

As they walked away I heard Sasori say, "I think she still likes you Deidara."

I got back to the checkout were Shika was. "What took you so long, and why are you all red?" he asked.

"No reason," I said. He raised an eyebrow. "Just scan this!" I said angrily handing him the can of juice. He rolled his eyes and scanned it, and then took money out of his pocket and put it in the register. "Thank you," I said sweetly and turned to walk away.

I saw Deidara at the back of the line with his friends and I froze. "What's wrong now?" Shikamaru sighed.

"Uh nothing, I'm just going to hang with you for a few minutes," I told him.

"Fine, but at least be useful and bag these items so I have less to do and it goes faster," he said pointing at the bagging place at the end of the checkout. So I went over there and helped him.

Soon Deidara and his friends were at the till. "Well if it isn't Mr. Smarty-pants," Kisame laughed.

"Shut up," Shikamaru said.

"Oh, he is getting mean isn't he?" Kisame said.

"Stop bugging him and let him do is job so we can get out of here," Itachi said coldly.

Kisame sighed, "Whatever."

"Why can't you guys be nicer to people," Deidara said.

"Why can't you stop being such a girl," Sasori said.

Deidara rolled his eyes and came over to me. "Need some help?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine," I said not even looking at him. I was afraid if I did I would start blushing again.

"Temari I changed my mind. I can't stand to not have you in my life, if it's ok I want to be friends now," he told me.

I looked up at him. "That would be great if we were friends, I missed you too," I told him blushing, like I knew I would.

His friends were all done paying and I handed them their bags. Deidara hugged me and I turned dark red. "It's was nice to see you again," he whispered.

Then he waved to Shikamaru and him and his friends started to walk away. "I told you she liked you still, did you see how red she got just from that hug?" I heard Sasori say, and they left the store; they were the last in line.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Gaara and I worked on the cases all day together. We had lots of fun and got closer doing it. "You better let me handle all the fans, we know how clumsy you are," Gaara said.

I laughed. "Shut up it was an accident, but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry," I said.

Gaara went over to pick up a fan, and when he did something that looked like paper fell. He picked it up. "It's the piece of fan you broke off that other one," he told me. Putting the fan he picked up in the case we just finished.

Then he went to the broken fan. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"You'll see," he said.

Throughout the time he was at the broken fan I worked alone on the cases. Every time I finished one though, he put a fan in. Then I realized we made one too many cases and I was going to put it in the basement for something later when Gaara stopped me. He held out the fan that I broke. He had carful taped it back on one side of the fan. "We can put this in that extra case," he said putting it in there with the tape at the back and putting it on the shelf.

"That's great Gaara, Temari will be so happy you fixed it," I told him.

"But she will be even happier that you decided to make cases so none of the other ones broke," He told me. Then we went down stairs for lunch.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"Temari snap out of it!" He yelled in my ear.

"Wow!" I yelled and fell backwards on the floor. "What was that for?" I yelled at him.

"What, I didn't do anything," he said.

"You yelled in my era!" I told him.

"Well sorry, but you just kept staring at the door," he said holding out a hand to help me up. I was still dark red. "And why did Deidara hug you, why are you blushing, what did he say?" he demanded.

I blinked at him. "He said it was nice to see me again, and he hugged me because we are friends," I told him.

"That doesn't explain why you're blushing," he said.

"That's what Itachi said when I talked to them coming back with my juice," I said finally opening it to drink it.

"So why are you blushing?" Shikamaru asked jealously.

"Because he looks hot in those clothes ok, happy now," I yelled tuning away from him. Shikamaru stomped off jealously to the checkout he was working at. "By the way I'm mad at you," I said walking over to him and sat at the end of the checkout. He looked confused. "Your mom told me what you're really like," I told him. "She told me about how you think women should just stay home, to cook and clean for their men, and about how you don't think they should have jobs."

Shikamaru hung his head. "So you probably don't want to be my friend anymore or anything now, right?" he said sadly.

"No, I'll still be your friend and stuff, I'm just mad that you never told me the truth," I said. Then I stood up went over to him and kissed him on the cheek so he wasn't so sad. He turned red and stared at me as I walked away from him. I turned and winked at him. Then I went to go get the broom I left in the toy area.


	12. Police, Naruto's, Kiba Likes Hinata?

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"I'm going out!" I yelled to Kankuro who was cleaning up the mess in Temari's room.

"Where are you going?" he asked me.

I paused for a moment, where was I going? "I don't know, just for a walk!" I told him.

"Can I come too?" he asked.

"Sure," I sighed. I didn't really want him to come, but maybe he would find something else to do as we walked.

We walked all the way up to the school. There were police cars at it and people standing around. The area around the entrance was taped off. There was also a stretcher with a case on it that they put bodies in. Kankuro started to go over there to see what was going on. "I can't go over there," I told him. "Their probably investigating to see who killed Sakura, I'm sure they will know I'm lying if they ask me anything."

"It's not like they will," he told me.

I saw Ino talking to a police officer. The she looked around him and pointed at me and Kankuro. "See, I told you," I whispered turning to walk away.

"So you're just going to leave me here?" Kankuro asked.

"Just don't tell them who did it," I said. "It will look weird if we both go anyways. Just lie to them, your good at that." And I left Kankuro there with Ino and the police.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I couldn't believe Gaara just left me here alone, but I couldn't blame him. He saw who did it and was there and never did anything, he could be charged with something; and he had enough things on his record. "Where is that boy going?" the police man asked.

"Oh he has some where to go and he is going to be late if he doesn't leave right now," I told him in a normal voice. Ino gave me a strange look.

"Ok, well this girl says you go to this school. Is this true,"  
"Yes, I'm a year older then her, and a grade higher than her,"  
"Do you know what happened here?"  
"I'm guessing by that stretcher and body case over there that someone died,"  
"That is correct, do you know who it is?"  


"Not at the moment,"  
"Can you identify the victim if we show you?"  
"Maybe, I don't know everyone in this school yet I'm new,"

The police officer took me and Ino over to the body. Ino and I were the only kids from the school there, the rest were teachers. "Do you two know who this is?"

Ino started to cry. "T-that's my friend Sakura Haruno," she told him.

"Do you know her personally?" he asked me.

"No," I told him.

He asked us a few more questions like if we knew when it happened, or who did it, stuff like that. I lied for most of those questions of cores because I didn't want my friends getting in trouble. The officer didn't seem to detect any lying in my voice, so I got to go. Ino had to stay behind to answer some more questions because she knew Sakura better. _I guess Gaara was right. I am good at lying._

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I walked down the street back towards my house. There was no way to get around all the police cars. On my way home I spotted a yellow haired boy across the street from me. "Hey, Naruto over here," I said to him.

He came running over. "Hey, Gaara what's up?" he asked.

"The police are at the school investigating," I told him.

Naruto's eyes widened. "D-do they know who did it yet?" he asked.

"Innless Kankuro told them, which I know he never did, then they shouldn't. Where is Sasuke anyways?" I asked.

Naruto sighed in relief. "That's good, and Sasuke is at my house," he told me.

"Can I come over to your place for a while?" I asked him. "All Kankuro wants to do is spend time with me, it was nice at first but now it's getting annoying." Naruto nodded and led me to his house.

His house was quit small, and only had the main floor. It had a small kitchen/dining room, a sitting area, and 2 bed rooms. It was a really small space and there were no furniture.

"Next time you come over bring food, even if it's only a little bit, because I use to have just enough for me and now Sasuke is here and is eating everything," he said angrily. "I barley eat anything now, and it's only been a few hours. All the food is going to be gone and we're going to starve!" Naruto cried.

"Yeah yeah, shut up with your whining. I'll try to bring something next time," I told him. "So where is Sasuke?"

"He locked himself in his room to be alone like the little emo boy he is," Naruto sighed.

I went over to the only closed door and banged on it. "Sasuke open the damn door and visit!" I yelled angrily.

The door opened slowly. "Gaara," Sasuke said coldly coming out slipping his long sweat bands onto his arms.

"You weren't doing that again were you?" I asked.

"What's it to you if I was?" he asked.

"Aren't you happier here then at Itachi's?" I asked.

"At least at Itachi's there was food," he said pushing me aside and went into the kitchen. He opened up all the cupboards and the fridge. "See, nothing."

"At least Naruto doesn't beat you," I said coldly. "And you can get your friends to bring you food." Naruto closed everything Sasuke opened. Sasuke crossed his arms and turned his back to me. "You know it's true," I told him walking over to him.

"Why do you care anyways, you barely know me," he said and started to walk away as I got close.

I grabbed him and slammed him into the wall, then held him there so he wouldn't move. Naruto just stood there watching. "Because I've been down that road Sasuke, it's not pretty, and I never want to go back," I told him.

I let go of him and he slid down the wall to the floor. "Why were you like this?" he asked.

"One day I asked my sister were our parents were because all the kids at school had them, but we never saw our. She said that our mom died giving birth to me, and our dad died shortly after. I felt like it was entirely my fault," I told him.

"That's like me," I heard him mumble. "How did you stop?" he asked hiding his face with his hair. I could tell he was crying.

"I realized that my brother and sister loved me, and treated me well. They weren't just my brother and sister; they were my parents and friends too. I knew that we could get along fine without parents, and them dying wasn't my fault. It was a freak accident and I couldn't hold it against myself. My brother and sister never held it against me so why should I?" I told him.

"Well I don't have a brother like that," Sasuke said.

Then Naruto spoke up. "I don't either Sasuke, if you haven't noticed I don't have parents either. I'm just fine. I don't have much of a place to live, and I have next to no food, but I'm not like you are right now," Naruto told him.

"And that's what I don't get about you, your always so happy," Sasuke said.

"That's because I have great friends. I never told anyone until now that I never had any parents because I was scared like Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari were that I'd get taken somewhere, and I didn't want to leave my friends. I said something now because I thought that if you and Gaara can tell people about not having parents then I could too. And it was also because I don't want to see you hurt and I wanted to give you a place to live, you're my friend Sasuke. I don't like to see you like this. We can find a way to live in this place, we have friends that will take care of us, and we have a place to go to school. We can do just fine without parents, and if Itachi ever finds out were you are and comes to get you I will try to stop him, because your my friend and friends are all that matter to me now because they keep me happy," Naruto told him crying.

Sasuke looked up at Naruto and me. "Thanks you guys," he said and Naruto hugged him.

Sasuke pushed him away. "You need to not do that, it's kind of weird," he told him.

"What is, hugs?" Naruto asked.

"No, hugs from you," he said getting up.

"Fine," Naruto pouted.

"Hey, and if you ever need to take your anger out on anyone, Ino is still at school," I told Sasuke.

He laughed. "I think Sakura was good enough, I don't need to be taken by the police," he said.

Naruto shivered. "I still can't believe you did that to her," he said.

"Hey, I didn't do anything she stepped off the edge of the roof, and if they take the body in to look at it they won't find anything on her," Sasuke said.

"Can we just not talk about it, it scares me to think of you as a murderer," Naruto said.

"What, scared he will kill you next?" I asked.

"Well aren't you?" he asked.

I laughed. "No, I would have done the same thing," I told him.

"You're just a wimp," Sasuke told Naruto.

"Well Kiba is too, he is scared of you now as well," Naruto said.

"Well at least he can joke about it, and hide it better then you," I told him.

"He can't hide anything," Naruto mumbled.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

When I got home Gaara wasn't there. _He must have run into one of his friends on the way home._ I walked around the house because there was nothing else to do. When I went into the basement I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I looked over and saw someone's jacket. _Gaara must have picked it up and put it here._ I sighed and brought it up stairs.

A while later I heard a knock on the front door, so I went to see who it was. It was Kiba and his dog. I opened the door. "Hello Kiba, what brings you here?" I asked.

"Akamaru and I came over to see if I left my jacket here," he told me. "It cost a lot of money and my mom will be mad if I lost it."

"Oh, yeah I found a jacket. I'll go get it," I told him going to grab it. When I picked it up a photo fell out. "Don't you think this is kind of like being a stalker?" I asked handing him his jacket. He gave me a funny look, and I held up the photo. It was a photo of Hinata.

"Hey, give me that!" he yelled and grabbed it from me.

"Really dude you have obsessive problems," I told him.

Kiba sighed. "I know, but I just really like her, and everyone knows but her. I know she probably doesn't like me back either, I don't even know why I bother continuing to like her," he told me.

"And I don't know why you carry a picture of her around in your pocket. She could get you a restraining order over that, it's seriously like you're a stalker," I told him.

He laughed. "I guess I should get rid of all the others too then," he said.

"You're not serious are you? You have more?" I asked.

"Maybe," he said smiling. "Anyways we need to go, mom needs help at home."

"Ok, bye," I said petting Akamaru to say good bye, and then closed the door behind them.


	13. I Want To Work Checkout, Deidara Again?

**Temari P.O.V.**

I walked up to Shika holding the broom. "I want to work the checkout," I told him holding out the broom to see what he would say.

"Do you even know how to use it?" he asked me.

I sighed. "No," I told him.

"Well then you can't really work it can you," he said finishing with a costumer he was with. "And besides I'm not going to clean, that's a girl's job."

"Excuse me?" I said. "If you haven't noticed this is the twenty-first century, girls don't just cook and clean anymore. You need to get out of the past," I told him angrily.

"Well that may be true, but you still don't know how to use this thing," he said with a sigh.

"Teach me," I said. He looked at me confused. "Teach me how to use it."

"You're so troublesome," he sighed.

"And you're a lazy butt, now teach me!" I yelled.

"Fine," he sighed, and I spent the rest of the day learning how to use the checkout.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

Sasuke had finally eaten everything in Naruto's house a few minutes later. "You're such a pig!" Naruto yelled at him.

Sasuke glared. "It's not my fault you never have any food," he told him.

"It is now; I had enough food for myself for a few days!" Naruto continued to yell.

I sighed. "Do you guys want to go buy more?" I asked.

"How we don't have any money!" Naruto said angrily.

"I do, but not much," I told him.

"Don't you need it for yourself?" Sasuke asked.

"No Temari has a job now, she can buy food for us," I told them.

"Well how much do you have?" Naruto asked.

"Right now enough for a day or two, if Sasuke stops pigging out, right now," I told them.

Sasuke sighed. "Fine, I'll try not to eat so much," Sasuke said throwing the empty ramen out he was eating. We left for the store.

The way to the big supermarket was blocked by the police, so we went to the little one. It was closer to Naruto's house anyways. On the way we saw Tenten and Neji. "Hold up you guys, I need to go talk to them," I said crossing the street to talk to them. They stopped.

"What do you want?" Neji asked.

I took the necklace out of my pocket and held it up. Tenten gasped. "I thought I lost it!" she yelled.

"You lost the necklace I gave you?" Neji asked.

"W-well I-I, yes," she told him. He looked away from her angrily. "Neji it was an accident, I lost it in that sand pit."

He turned to look at her again. "We will never speak of that sand pit again," he said.

"Well then forgive me!" Tenten yelled.

Neji thought for a moment then sighed. "Fine," he said.

Tenten turned to me. "Give it," she said grabbing for it, but I pulled it away.

"You have to give me something first," I told her.

Her face saddened. "What?" she asked.

"You have to give me money for two weeks of groceries at the cheep store," I told her.

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "That all?" she asked.

"Yeah, I was going to make you do something else, but Naruto and Sasuke need food so I changed my mind," I told her.

"Aw, that's so nice," she said smiling and ruffling my hair. I glared at her.

"Hey, stop looking at her like that," Neji said coldly. I glared at him instead.

"Here you go," Tenten said handing me money.

"I can't believe you have that much money on you," I said and my eyes widened.

"Yeah, my family is rich so," she said.

"And yet I have to pay for everything," Neji sighed. I handed her the necklace, put the money in my pocket, and crossed the street back to Naruto and Sasuke.

"How did you get her to give you money?" Naruto asked happily.

"I found her necklace, and she's rich must I go on?" I said.

Naruto's eyes widened. "How much did you get?" he asked.

"If you eat like normal people," I said looking at Sasuke.

"What did I do!" he yelled.

I ignored him. "You should have enough food for two weeks.

"Ha, now you can't say I don't have any food!" Naruto yelled at Sasuke.

"Shut up," Sasuke said coldly. And we went to the store.

We walked in and I saw Temari and Shikamaru at the cash register. "I didn't know this was Shikamaru's family's store," I said.

"Oh yeah, this store is the best. Everything is way cheaper her then at the big place," Naruto told me.

We walked over to Temari and Shikamaru. "Hey guys," I said.

"Gaara," Temari yelled running over to me.

"What Temari, what are you doing? I though you wanted to learn to use this thing!" Shikamaru yelled to her.

"Yeah yeah, be right there!" she yelled back. "So Gaara what are you guys doing here?"

"We need to buy some food for Sasuke and Naruto, because Sasuke ate it all," I told her.

"There was hardly anything there!" Sasuke yelled.

"You're starting to sound like Choji," Naruto sighed. Sasuke turned around angrily.

"Well Itachi was in here so you might want to be fast. I don't think they will come back, but they might," Temari told us, so we went to shop for the food.

After much arguing about what they actually needed and what would be best to buy, we managed to get to the till. "How are you going to pay for all this?" Temari asked surprised. I pulled out my wad of money. Temari's eyes widened. "How did you-"

"Tenten," I said plainly. She was a little confused, but she and Shikamaru checked the food out. "Bye, see you at home!" she yelled to us as we walked through the door.

When we got to Naruto's house we put the food away. There was barely enough room for it all, but we managed to get it all in. "And to celebrate all this food we will eat a box of cookies!" Naruto yelled. That was the one this I let them buy because they bagged so much, and I knew they would open it as soon as they got home. We divided the cookies evenly because we didn't want Sasuke to eat them all; even though I probably would have had more than him. Naruto and Sasuke started fighting about each other's share being bigger than the others. I just sat there with my eyes closed and tried to tune them out.

After about five minutes I finally couldn't take it. "Will you guys just shut up, you're arguing about one of the most stupid things in the world!" I yelled at them.

They stopped and looked at me. "I guess it was pretty stupid," Naruto said.

"Naruto is just immature and I was playing along to amuse him," Sasuke said crossing his arms and looking at the floor.

"Hey, I am not immature!" Naruto yelled at him.

"You sound like a married couple!" I yelled at them and got up to leave and go home. They looked at each other then looked away angrily and crossed their arms. I opened the door to leave and Naruto came running up behind me and grabbed me around the waste.

"Bye Gaara," he said.

I turned and pushed him away from me. "You need to stop doing that to people," I said coldly.

He raised an eyebrow as he backed away. "Doing what?" he asked.

"Hugging people," I told him. "It's weird." Naruto frowned as I left the house.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I was the end of the day and we were closing up. We had one last person in line. "You go put the broom away and I'll finish here," I told Shika

He sighed. "Fine, I won't argue this time because I know you're going to get your way," he said. He took the broom and left.

When he got back I was sitting on the checkout. "Took you long enough," I said crossing my arms. He just sighed again. "Your mom and dad are waiting in the car for us." And we left the store.

As we were going to the car someone drove up in front of us. They rolled down their car window. It was Deidara. "Want me to drive you home Temari? Then you won't have to walk from his place." He said looking at Shika.

I blushed. "Um, I-"

"She wants to come with me," Shikamaru said jealously. Ha grabbed my wrist and pulled me around the car. I sighed and fallowed him as I waved good bye to Deidara.

"I hate how you're so jealous of Deidara," I told Shikamaru as his parents went into his house.

"I'm not jealous, I just..."

"Exactly," I said to him. "You don't have to worry; we are just friends now, ok?"

"Ok," he said. "I just don't want to lose you to him again." He frowned.

"You're so troublesome," I said to him smirking.

"Thanks," he said smiling a little. I gave him a kiss on the cheek, and waved to him as I walked home.


	14. Us:1 Popular's:0, Gym Class, Reword

**This chapter is longer then the last few I put up!**

* * *

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Temari and Gaara got home at the same time. "Were have you guys been?" I asked.

"I had to walk home from Shikamaru's because he wouldn't let Deidara give me a ride," Temari told me.

"And I walked home from Naruto's" Gaara said. "So how'd it go with the police?"

"They let me leave and talked to Ino more because I didn't know her well" I told him.

"You were talking to police, about what?" Temari asked.

"Sakura," I said. "So how was your day at the store, and what's this about Deidara?" She explained to us about what had happened today, after she finished Gaara told her we had to show her something and we took her to her room. When she opened the door her jaw dropped. "You guys did this for me?" she said walking over to her fans in the cases. "And you fixed my broken one?"

"Actually Gaara fixed the broken one, because he found the peace to it," I told her.

Tears started to fill up in her eyes. "I love you guys," she said and gave us both hugs, Gaara even hugged her back.

"We just wanted to do something nice for our older sister," Gaara said. "Because you have done lots for us, you even got a job."

Temari Smiled at us. "I'm going to go make you guys supper," she said and left the room.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

We got to school and the police were gone. _I guess they got what they needed form their investigation._ When we got closer to the door I saw a video camera pointing at the door. "They installed video cameras guys," I told Temari and Kankuro.

They looked up. "I guess there want to know who is coming into the school now," Kankuro said as we got to our lockers. Shikamaru was waiting for Temari. She grabbed her books and said good-bye, then went to home room.

In my homeroom everyone was talking. I went over to Sasuke, Kiba, and Naruto who were laughing up a storm and sat down in a desk by them. "Hey, guys what's up?" I asked.

"Oh Gaara hey, we were just talking about the prank someone pulled on Ino," Kiba said.

"Yeah, someone put paint balloons in her locker and now her hair is green," Sasuke laughed.

"It's so funny, she is in the bathroom now trying to wash it out," Naruto said. I laughed with them. Then I looked around the room. Hinata was on one side with the popular kids, but she was sitting alone and no one was talking to her. I got up.

"Where are you going?" Kiba asked.

"To see if Hinata wants to join us, she looks lonely," I told him.

He stood up. "I'll come too," he said and we went over to her.

"Hey Hinata," Kiba said smiling.

"Hi guys, what's up?" Hinata asked.

"Hey Hinata what are you doing talking to those losers?" Shino asked.

"O-oh u-um, there my friends," she said shyly.

"Whatever, but if Ino sees you with them she is going to kick you out of the group," he said.

"I-I d-don't care there better friends then you people," she told him.

"Come on Hinata lets go over there," I said pointing to Sasuke and Naruto who were laughing away. She stood up took her stuff and walked over to them with us.

"Hey guys what's so funny?" Kiba asked.

They stopped laughing, and then they looked at each other and started to laugh again. Naruto pointed to the door. "Ino is standing in the hallway and she keeps peeking in the door. And she still has green hair!" he laughed harder.

We all turned and looked at the door. She was now being pushed into class by the teacher. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. She walked swiftly over to the other end of the room and sat down in a desk. None of us could hold it in anymore and we all laughed and pointed at her; even Hinata. Then the whole class started laughing. "All right, all right," the teacher said and everyone stopped laughing. "I know Ino's hair style is different but we don't need to laugh about it; if she likes it that's all that matters. Now I don't want anyone making fun of her anymore." Ino put her head down on her desk, and everyone started laughing again.

After the homeroom teacher finally got us all calmed down she took attendance and we left. Ino was the first one out of the class. "I bet she is going to try and wash it out again," Sasuke said.

"Well if it didn't work the first time what makes her think it will work now," I said.

"She is just stupid," Kiba sighed.

"Most of those popular girls are," Naruto said. Hinata looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "You're one of the smart ones," he told her. She smiled at him.

Ino stopped us before we got to our next class. "I know one of you did this!" she yelled pointing at her hair that looked worse than before.

Kiba snickered. "I wish we were smart enough to think of a prank like that," he told her. "Sadly the best thing we can think of is moving over a seat every time the teacher looks at the board."

Ino glared at him then turned to Hinata. "And why are you hanging out with these losers?" she asked.

"W-well I-I U-um, t-there my friends," Hinata told her doing the thing with her fingers again.

"If you hang with them I'm going to have to kick you out of the group," Ino told her.

Hinata turned red with anger. "You can't kick me out if I leave! They are way better friends then you guys in that stupid group you have had since kindergarten, and I'm sure Tenten will leave too once we talk to her!" she yelled at Ino. Then she pushed her out of the way and we went into the class.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"Did you hear what happened to Ino?" I asked Shikamaru.

"No, what happened?" he asked.

"Well Deidara said that someone put paint balloons in her locker and when she opened the door it fell on her. Her hair is all green now and she can't get it out," I told him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Deidara told you?" he asked with a hint of jealousy.

"Yes, when are you going to stop being jealous of Deidara? It's not like he is going to try to start something with me again," I said with a sigh.

"Well I bet he doesn't know who did it," he said.

"No one knows who did it, but she is blaming Gaara for it," I told him.

"Well I know who did it," Shikamaru told me.

"Yeah right, who did it then?" I asked.

He smirked. "Me," he said.

My jaw dropped. "Yeah right," I said. "You don't have the guts to do that."

"Well who else in the school has the brains to think of it, and to break into a locker without making it look like anything happened to the lock?" He asked.

My eyes widened. "Oh my god, you did do it," I said. "She is going to be so mad when she finds out it was you."

"So who cares, she shouldn't have treated me like a slave at the dance, and she had it coming anyways. She spent years bullying me and humiliating me, so I'm finally going to get her back good for it," he told me as we walked into our first class.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"Well I'm officially out of the popular group," Tenten said walking in to our second class.

"What?" Lee asked with wide eyes.

"How are we going to get info on them now?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I never hung out with them and they are really mean and snobby, and Hinata left. So I left," She told us.

"Well at least you won't be bothered by them anymore," Neji said staring at her. He had been staring at her sans she walked in.

Jiraiya walked into the class. "It's been almost a week now and I still haven't found my books. I have a deadline to meet for that new one you know," he said with a sigh like he had given up hope of finding them. "This will be your guys last class to find them, we are way behind and I could get fired if we get too far back." So we all got up and looked.

"Oh my god, I found something!" Lee yelled halfway through the class. He pulled it out. It was one of the hundreds of books hidden in the huge room. He held it up and Jiraiya came over. He took it and held it up.

"I-it's one of my books. You found one of my books!" he yelled happily and hugged Lee who was stunned and froze. "Keep looking hard everyone! Pull things out, look deep in the shelves! There in here, there in here I know it now!" Then he went back to his desk and actually searched around there for the first time.

"Lee? Lee? Are you ok Lee?" Tenten asked waving her hand in front of his face as we walked down the hallway.

"I-I, h-he, he hugged me," Lee said shivering. "That was the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my life!" he yelled.

"You've been contaminated, don't come near me!" I yelled.

"Hey, shut up!" he yelled back at me.

I laughed. "I was just kidding," I told him. "But you might consider burning those clothes when you get home."

"And they were my favourite shade of green too," he said sadly.

"You look like a turtle in all green," Neji blurted out. We looked at him. "What, I know you and Tenten were thinking it too, Kankuro." Lee rolled his eyes as we walked into class.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

We had gym, and we actually had Orochimaru for this class; the girls had a different teacher and were in a different gym. "He is even creepier then Jiraiya," Naruto shivered.

"At least he isn't constantly staring at you," Sasuke sighed.

"I think he is a pedophile," Kiba said as we started to run laps.

As we ran by Orochimaru he touched my shoulder. I shivered. "He just touched me," I whispered to them.

"So, he is still staring at me, and it's at the wrong place," Sasuke whispered as we ran by him again.

After five laps of Orochimaru touching me and staring at Sasuke we stretched. "Those are some nice stretches boys," Orochimaru hissed as he walked by Naruto and taped his butt. Naruto freaked out and sat down to do sitting stretches.

"Oh my god guys, he just taped my ass," Naruto shivered and almost started to cry. We all sat down to be safe just in case he came by again. Then we played basketball. After the game we went running to the locker room, and waiting by the door was Orochimaru. He smacked all our butts and said good game as was went in.

After quickly changing we went out a back way so we wouldn't have to pass out "teacher". "I think by the end of the year I might break into tears every time I see Orochimaru," Naruto said.

"You almost broke into tears today; I think it will be a shorter time then that. Probably tomorrow in double block gym," Kiba said.

"What, we have double block gym tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yep," Sasuke sighed.

"No! Why do we have to be tortured like this?" I yelled as Hinata came out of the gym she was in.

"Hey guys what's wrong, I heard Gaara yell," She asked.

"It's horrible Hinata, horrible! We have Orochimaru as a gym teacher!" Naruto yelled bursting into tears.

"Wow, that was faster than I thought," Kiba laughed with a hint of scared in his voice.

**Temari P.O.V.**

As I walked to Health I saw Gaara, Kiba, Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke walking with their heads down, and Naruto was crying. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"G-gym, O-Orochimaru, t-touched," Sasuke told me. I looked at him confused.

"He touched out asses, kept touching Gaara, and kept staring at Sasuke," Kiba said.

"He did what?" I asked angrily.

"There isn't anything you can do about it. It's like the situation with Jiraiya; they can't fire them because they don't have enough teachers," Shikamaru told me. I sighed.

"Too bad, I'd like to get these creeps gone from this school," I said. Then I waved good-bye to Gaara and his friends, and went to class.

"I have found out the books are in this class room!" Jiraiya yelled happily.

"Like we didn't already know that," I whispered to Shikamaru.

"Now I want you all to look hard, don't be afraid to move things and take things off the shelves," he told us, and we went to go look.

"I saw Lee in the hallway earlier coming from here, he looked stunned," Shikamaru said.

"He probably found one of Jiraiya's books, God knows what Jiraiya did to him if he did," I said. We searched for the whole block and found over half the books, but the new one was no ware to be found.

Our next call was gym. There weren't enough high school students to have separate classes; all the students were in Jr. High, so all three grades had gym at the same time. We were lucky, we didn't get Orochimaru for gym we got Kurenai. Deidara and his friends were on the other end of the gym from Shikamaru and I, and I couldn't help but stair at them. Shikamaru just sighed and finished stretching. "Ok classes gather in," Kurenai said and the three grades came over to her. "Now I know you boys will hate this, but we are learning ballroom dancing." There was lots of whining from the guys, and even me because I don't like dancing that much. "Ok, ok, yeah I knew you were going to do that. Anyways, I'm going to pick your partners for you, and it may not be someone from your grade. But I don't really care what you think I just want to get this unit started and finished fast so we can do something else," she told us and gave us our partners. After giving out partners she told us to go somewhere in the gym to talk and get to know each other so we weren't dancing with a total stranger and it wouldn't be too weird.

I was pared with Deidara. I was happy and sad at the same time. I was happy because Deidara and I could spend some time together and Shikamaru couldn't do anything about it, but I was sad because I was hoping to get Shikamaru and I knew he would be so joules that I was dancing with Deidara. We went over to the other end of the gym and sat down by near his friends and their partners. "Aw Deidara your so lucky you always get her," Sasori said.

"Yeah, I'd like to get a hot chick for once," Kisame said. Their partners didn't look to happy about what they said.

"You guys just get to know your own partners so we can get this over with fast," Itachi said emotionlessly. His partner looked scared of him.

After much talking about basically nothing Kurenai called us back to her. She showed us how to do the dance turned on the music and told us to practice. "Don't worry if you don't get it today I'm sure you'll get it tomorrow, I hope," she told us and sent us on our way. Deidara and I started to dance. I never got to properly dance with him on Halloween and I realized he was pretty good; we go the dance on the first try.

"You're a good dancer," he told me and smiled. I blushed.

"Thanks." I said. "So how have you been?"

"Good, I haven't been talking to the guys that much though, but they haven't seemed to notice," he told me.

"How is that good and why aren't you talking to them?" I asked.

"Well the band is doing well, and Itachi has stopped bugging me. But I haven't been talking to them much because they are real jerks to your friend and me, and they are always talking about you and about how they want to do stuff...and yeah, I just haven't been talking to them much," he told me. My eyes widened.

"Your friends are perverts," I said. "But at least the band is doing well." For the rest of the class we just danced and talked, and at the end Kurenai came to talk to us.

"You guys did really well today, better than everyone else. So tomorrow I want to start the class with you two demonstrating this dance that no one else seems to get. So be ready," she said and let us go change.

After we got out of the gym Shikamaru came running up to me. "So what were you talking about this time that made you blush?" he asked jealously.

"Why were you watching me and not dancing with your own partner?" I asked.

"Because dancing is too troublesome and my partner is stupid," he said with a sigh. "Now what happened?"

"He said I was a good dancer. You're so noise, and I hate your jealousy," I told him.

"Well if you hate it so much why do you talk to me, and why are you dating me?" he asked.

"I hate you," I sighed as we walked to the lunch room.

I came in and sat with everyone for the first time in forever. "Hey, haven't seen you in here for a while," Lee said.

"Yeah well, after what I heard about the peas I figured Kankuro couldn't handle you guys himself," I joked. Neji glared at me for bringing that up again. I saw Hinata at the table and went and sat by her. "Hey Hinata, not sitting with the popular group anymore," I said. She explained to me about how she and Tenten had left the group because they were all mean and snobby in it.

"I was only in it because they knew my mom and dad had money and thought they could get something out of it. Neji was supposed to be in it too but he turned them down, first person to ever do it too," Hinata told me.

"Well I wouldn't blame you leaving, those kids are going to get it bad by the end of the year, I mean look at Ino," I said.

"Yeah, I'm wondering who did that to her," Kiba said.

"I know, me too it's hilarious," Sasuke said.

"Well I know," I said. They turned and looked at me.

"Who did it?" Naruto asked.

"I did," Shikamaru said. Everyone's eyes went wide.

"You did not," Gaara said. So Shikamaru explained to them how he did it.

"I only understood some of that," Kankuro said. "But I can tell you did it."

As Shikamaru was telling us about it I saw Shino over hear and go over to Ino. The next thing I knew she was coming over to our table. "Hey Shika, Ino's coming and she looks mad," I leaned over the table and whispered to him. He turned around and looked at her.

"So you're the one who did this to me!" she yelled. The whole room went quit and looked.

"Maybe I did, maybe I never," Shikamaru told her standing up.

"You're such a loser you know that! I can get this whole school against you!" She yelled in his face.

"Not with that hair you can't, and anyways you may think people like you, but no one dose," he told her reaching behind him for his milk carton.

"I'll have you know I am loved by lots of people!" she said getting angrier.

"Really now, well then...Who likes Ino?" he asked everyone. No one said anything. "There you have it." Ino went to push him but Shikamaru dumped the milk on her head. "Now go away and leave us alone!" he yelled at her. Ino, Shino, and a few more people stormed out of the lunch room.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"Wow Shikamaru, I didn't know you had it in you to stand up for yourself," I said.

"Well I've been pushed around too long, I'm sick of it," Shikamaru said.

"That's good to hear," I said with a smirk. Now Naruto and Sasuke were laughing beside me and it was getting annoying. "What are you guys laughing about?" I asked. They looked at me and said nothing. "You seem really different now that you live together." Their expression changed to fear I could tell I hit something.

"D-different, w-were not different," Naruto said.

"Sure you are you're fighting like a married couple, laughing for reasons you won't tell anyone else. You're either really good friend's with each other again or..." They went pale.

"Or what," Kiba asked. "I want to know."

"Or nothing," Sasuke said.

"I-it's not what you're thinking Gaara," Naruto said.

"What's he thinking?" Kiba asked.

"Nothing," Sasuke said.

"He thinks their gay, ok Kiba," Neji said with no emotion from the other side of the table. Everyone at our table looked at him. "What, I only say what everyone is thinking but is scared to say." Then they all looked at Naruto and Sasuke.

"I-I'm serous guys, I-it's not what you think," Naruto said.

"They are just really good friends again," Kankuro said saving them from and weird situation. Everyone shrugged and went back to their conversations.

Naruto and Sasuke dragged me out of the lunch room. "How could you do that to us?" Naruto said.

"I didn't do anything, you Naruto, are the one who got all nerves and got Neji thinking the same thing as me. Then you got Kiba wanting to know because you were nerves, so Neji said what was on his mind. So you brought it on yourself Naruto," I said with a smirk. Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"I hate you so much," he said to him.

"What did I do?" Naruto asked.

"Exactly what Gaara just said is what you did!" Sasuke yelled.

"Will you two shut up?" I yelled at them. "Do you even hear yourselves? You're just making more people think the same thing, if you have to fight like this do it in private!" I told them. Then I went bolting to Health class.

In Health class we had to help find the rest of the books. "Time for us to just grab all the rest and give them to him," I said. Sasuke and Naruto still looked pissed at me. "Oh come on guys." They looked away. "Fine, I'm sorry for what I did at lunch." They went wide eyed.

"Did you just say sorry?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Suddenly I don't feel so mad at you, since you never say sorry," Sasuke said.

"Ok, well it's time to put our plan in effect and be the good guys," I said. We grabbed all the remaining books and went to Jiraiya. He went wide-eyed.

"W-where did y-you?" he asked.

"Around," Sasuke said.

"Hey, what's this?" Kiba said, reaching for something near Jiraiya's desk. He pulled out the book Jiraiya was working on.

"M-my book, my book, you found it! You found the rest of them! I need to reword you guys," he said. Then he took out some books. "Here are the other books from my series that you don't have, and when I'm done my new book I'll give you an advertised copy." Then he handed us the books as the bell rang.


	15. Gym Again, First Real Kiss

**So I am currently working on this one and 2 other fanfic's, so I don't know when I will update this one again. And please (if you haven't already) go check out the other 2, and Thanks for reading!**

* * *

**Temari P.O.V.**

Over the next few weeks a few of us continued to play pranks on Ino and the popular kids. We stole their clothes during gym, we put gum on their seats, and we switched their locks on their lockers. But now it was getting colder and into the winter session. I had spent most of my weekends at Shikamaru's parent's shop, so I had earned lots of money; to my standards anyways.

I smiled as I walked. "What are you so happy about?" Kankuro asked.

"It's almost Christmas!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah," Gaara said. "What are we doing this year?" he asked.

We always did something special during Christmas. We would have a big meal, thanks to me managing to always get a job before Christmas came, or go do something in town if there were something special going on. "This year let's have a big meal with all our friends the weekend before. That way they can come, and they can still spend Christmas day with their parents. We can even go a gift exchange," I told them happily.

"Do we even have enough money to get them gifts?" Kankuro asked.

"We will Mr. Nara is giving me a pay bonus has a gift. We won't have enough to each buy gifts individually though, so we are going to have to put all three of our names on the gifts," I told him. They agreed to this, as we walked into the school.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I got to homeroom and sat down by Tenten, Lee, and Neji. "Good morning Kankuro," Lee said. "How are you?"

"Good," I told him. "I have to tell you guys something." Tenten and Neji looked at me; they were talking to each other before. "Gaara, Temari and I are going to host a Christmas party for you guys. And there will be a gift exchange."

"How are you going to do that?" Tenten asked.

"Temari has been working all day on weekends, and whenever we had a day off during the week she went into work. Plus Shikamaru's dad is going to give her a bonus for Christmas. It's the weekend before Christmas" I told her.

"Sounds like fun!" Lee said. "I'll be there." Neji and Tenten said they would try to come too.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

When I told Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata about our Christmas party they were thrilled. "I can't wait!" Naruto exclaimed. "Christmas at my place is going to be so lonely." Sasuke raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat. Naruto looked at him. "You don't count, your boring and never talk to me," he told him. Sasuke sighed and said something under his breath. Naruto just looked away from him.

"Can I bring Akamaru? I don't like leaving him alone around Christmas time," Kiba told me.

"Sure whatever, as long as he doesn't wreck anything," I said.

"Don't worry he won't, he is well trained," he told me.

"How are you getting the money for all this?" Hinata asked. I explained to her about Temari and her job at Shikamaru's parents shop, and the bonus she was going to be getting. "Ok, but I wouldn't want to make you guys buy everything. I mean you earned that money," she kindly.

"Well I guess you can bring some snack or something. Then all we would have to buy is the supper and presents for you guys," I told her. She agreed and smiled at me. I had to hold back a blush. _Damn, why do I get like this around her ever so often!_

**Temari P.O.V.**

I told Shikamaru about the party Gaara, Kankuro, and I was going to have. "Is my dad really paying you that much?" he asked confused.

I laughed. "No, but the food at your shop is so cheap, and you sell toys and book too," I told him. "Plus he promised me a bonus for Christmas."

Shikamaru sighed. "He never gives me bonuses," he told me.

"Well I'm special," I teased. Shikamaru just looked to the floor.

Nothing really happened during the first few blocks, and now we were heading to gym for our dance class. Over the few weeks Shikamaru had slowly stopped stressing over the fact that I had Deidara as a partner. We went and got changed and then went over to our partners. "Hello Temari, how have you been? I missed you," Deidara said.

I blushed. "Good and you just saw me yesterday, how could you miss me so fast?" I asked putting my hands on my hips. _Why am I still blushing when I'm with him? I thought I was over this!_

"I don't know, I just did," he said smiling and ran his finger through my hair.

I backed away from him. "What are you doing?! My _boyfriend_is right over there!" I said in a harsh whisper pointing to Shikamaru.

"So he is," he said looking at Shikamaru who was looking at us.

I crossed my arms. "You are so different, you're not the Deidara I use to know," I told him.

"Well I stopped drinking, and became friendlier, and more confidant ever since I practically stopped talking to the guys," he told me.

"I can see that," told him.

Just then Itachi came over to us. "I need to talk to Temari," he said. The teacher still wasn't in the gym. _What could Itachi want with me?_ "Now," he said coldly.

We walked away from Deidara and were the guys were. "What?" I asked.

"Sasuke hasn't been home in weeks, where is he?" Itachi asked coldly.

"And what makes you think I know?" I asked him angrily with my arms crossed.

"I can tell," he said.

"Well you obviously can't, because I don't know where he is," I told him. He glared at me, and I glared back at him. Then he turned his head away and walked over to his friends, stopping to talk to Deidara as he went.

"You really pissed Itachi off," Deidara said when I got to him.

"So what," I said.

Deidara shrugged. "He told me to 'control' you," he said rolling his eyes.

"Like you can," I said jokingly.

"Watch me," he said tickling me and then grabbing me from the front. I laughed and turned around. I tried to get free by prying his hands open, but he was too strong. The whole time Shikamaru was watching from the other side of the gym.

"I give up!" I said giggling.

"I told you," he said smiling and letting go as the teacher walked in.

After I changed back into my other clothes and went to meet Shikamaru at the door to leave I noticed he was already halfway to the end of the hallway. _Oh great, he is mad at me _

_again._I sighed and went ringing to him. "Shika wait up!" I yelled. This only made him quicken his pace. I sighed again and sped up. When I caught up to him I grabbed his shoulder and swung him around. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" he asked angrily.

"Is this about Deidara?" I asked.

"Is this about Deidara, OF CORES this is about Deidara!" he yelled.

I sighed. "I told you we are just friends," I said calmly.

He crossed his arms. "I know he still likes you and you like him!" he said still yelling.

"Why would you think that?" I asked.

"He put his fingers in your hair, and was tickling you and grabbing and holding you. Plus you always blush when you are around him," he had stopped yelling but was still mad.

"We were just fooling around. And yeah I blush around him, but it's not because I like him still," I told him.

"Then why do you blush around him then, huh?" he asked.

"I-I don't know," I told him looking to the floor. "But I promise you I don't like him like that, and I'm not going to go back to him or cheat on you. I don't know how many times I have to promise you all this, but I will keep doing it until you believe me."

Shikamaru's anger changed to sorrow. "I know I do believe you, I just over react to things like this. I don't know why, and I know you told me so many times and you're probably getting annoyed at me now. But I have to thank you for putting up with me when I get like this. I'm so sorry," he told me grabbing my hand. I looked up at him and looked into his eyes. Then I kissed him on the lips.

I pulled away after 5 secants and blushed. He got really red and stared at me stunned. It was our first real kiss even though we had been together for a few weeks. Just then Deidara and his friends came up behind us from around the corner. "You guys are going to be late for class you know," Sasori said. It was the first time he had said something to Shikamaru and I without insulting Shika. We snapped out of the trance we were in.

"D-did you just say something to the two of us without insulting Shikamaru?" I asked.

He scratched the back of his head. "I look's that way," he said smiling. Then he saw Kisame glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. "But seriously, you're going to be late for class. Get going," we nodded and walked to our last class before lunch.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Our classes had been pretty boring until we got the health and had to do a test. "Ok class, pop quiz time!" Jiraiya told us. _Damn him!_

"Is it even legal to give a pop quiz in health? I mean it isn't even a core class," Lee whispered to me. I shrugged. _I wish it was illegal!_ He handed out the tests.

"Ok, so it's just some questions about the first few chapters in my book. It's up until I think you should be by now. Actually I think you should be done, but you been complaining about having to hide it from parents and teachers, and not getting to it because of homework. So I made it short and easy. Now start!" Jiraiya yelled at us and we opened our tests.

It was actually pretty easy and common sense. That is it was easy until I got to a question that had to do with what happened in the book. _Damn I should have seen this coming._ They were really weird questions, but I chose what I thought would happen in the book. At the end of class we handed in our tests and left for lunch. "That test was so easy!" Lee said.

"I sure was," Tenten said smiling. "What did you think Kankuro?"

"I think I got all the questions right until it got to the ones about to book," I told them with a sigh.

"Oh yeah, that's right. You didn't read it," Lee said. "But those questions were kind of easy too, I might have got them if I never read it either."

**Gaara P.O.V.**

Hinata, Kiba and I went to our usual table were everyone was already waiting. Everyone, that is, except Naruto and Sasuke. "Hey guys, where is Naruto and Sasuke?" Kankuro asked. I shrugged.

"We thought they were already here," Kiba told him.

"Well I never saw them come in, and Shikamaru and I were one of the first people here," Temari told us.

Half way through lunch Naruto and Sasuke came in. "And where have you two been?" Neji asked.

"No where," Naruto said turning red. I smirked and them. When Sasuke saw this he hit Naruto in the back of the head. "Ouch, what was that for?" Naruto asked. Sasuke just shrugged and sat down.

After lunch I went and pulled Sasuke and Naruto over. "You guys can tell me you know, I won't tell anyone," I said.

"Tell you what?" Naruto asked clueless.

"You know very well what," I said.

"There is nothing to tell," Sasuke said coldly. "Come on Naruto." And they walked away.


	16. Christmas Party Shopping, Blush?

**Temari P.O.V.**

I woke up early before Kankuro and Gaara. I had to every day on the week end to get to work on time now that there was snow on the ground. I went down stairs, had a cereal bar, and put on my coat. Then I walked down the road to the store. It was pretty cold out. It gets warmer when the sun is out, but right now there was no sun so it was extra cold. As I walked down the road a few cars passed by and the people in them looked at me funny. It was probably because I was only wearing a light jacket and it was really cold out. One car that passed pulled over a little ways up. When no one got out I got scared. _What if someone tries to grab me as I go by?_ Ever since those kids jumped me I was scared to walk anywhere alone. But I did it anyways.

When I got up to the car the person in it rolled down the window; I got scared. "Need a ride?" The person asked. I looked in through the window thinking only about what the person in it really wanted. But when I looked in I saw it was Deidara and Sasori. "Need a ride?" Sasori asked again. I blinked.

"Sure," I said getting in the back.

"Where are you going?" Deidara, who was driving, asked.

"Shikamaru's parents shop," I told him. "I need to get there for work."

Deidara and Sasori looked at me puzzled. "Why doesn't his dad pick you up from your house and drive you too? Your house is on the way isn't it?" Sasori asked.

"Well yeah," I said. I never really thought about it before, but it was on the way from their house. "But they never offered before."

"Well that's not very nice," Deidara said pulling back onto the road.

We got to the store in no time at all. But the thing was, it wasn't open yet. "You can wait in the car with us, it's much warmer in here," Sasori said.

"Thank you, I think I will," I told them.

"So anyways, what were you and Shikamaru doing in the hallway a few days ago? You were almost late for class," Deidara said.

"N-nothing," I told him turning red. I could see Deidara's expression go sad in the mirror. _He really does still like me._ "Anyways, what are you two doing, or were going to do?" I asked changing the subject for mine and Deidara's sake.

"Oh, we were just going to go see a move, go shopping at the mall, and then meet the band to practise," Sasori said. I looked at them confused. "We need more equipment for the band," he told me.

"What about the movie?" I asked.

"Can't two guys go see a movie together?" Deidara asked. I raised an eyebrow. "It's a kind of bad movie." I crossed my arms.

"It's a movie with, you know, naked people in it," Sasori said embarrassed.

"See, now that makes more sans," I told them getting out of the car.

"Where are you going?" Deidara asked.

"Oh, Shikamaru's car just pulled up so I have to get to work now. Enjoy you movie I guess," I said waving and closing the door. But Deidara opened his door and got out. "What?" I asked. He hugged me.

"I'm just so glad we can spend time together," he whispered in my ear. I got red, and Sasori smirked.

"Shut up Sasori!" I yelled. He just shrugged. _I hate that I still blush when I'm with him. I guess it's because there is still some love in his hugs and in his voice when he talks to me._

"Well good-bye Temari, I hope to see you soon," Deidara said getting back in the car and driving away.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

It was the day before our Christmas party and we still never went out to get anything for it. Temari was at the shop, and Gaara was still asleep. I went over to Gaara's bedroom door and knocked on it. "Gaara get up, I'm making you breakfast and then we need to go see Temari and get stuff for the party!" I yelled to him through the door.

"Screw you, it's the weekend!" he yelled back.

"If you want us to have this party then you better get the hell up!" I yelled at him. He mumbled something from the other side of the door that I couldn't hear. Then I went to the kitchen and made some cereal and some toast. Gaara came down a few secants later. "There, did it kill you to get up early on a weekend?" I asked.

"I died a little on the inside, yes," he said giving his usual remark to questions like that. I just rolled my eyes, and we sat down to eat breakfast.

After we were done we put on winter coats and walked to the Nara's shop. When we got there hardly anyone was in the store, and Shikamaru and his dad were working the tills. "Where is Temari?" I asked.

Shikamaru looked up at us. "She is some were cleaning," he told us.

Gaara turned and looked at him; he was looking at some candy that was at the till before. "You got Temari to clean?" he asked puzzled.

"Well yeah," Shikamaru said.

"But she was working at here when we came before," Gaara said.

"Yeah, she wanted to try it out. But she mainly cleans," he told us.

"She hardly ever cleans up at our house," Gaara told him.

"Of cores she would clean if Shikamaru told her to, Gaara," I told him. Gaara crossed his arms and glared at Shikamaru.

"What did I do, why are you looking at me like that?" Shikamaru asked. Gaara just rolled his eyes and we went to look for Temari.

We found her in the book area of the store sitting on a chair. "Well I see you're real into your job," Gaara said smirking.

"Oh shut up, I'm just taking a break," she told us. "So what do you want?"

"We came to shop for the party remember," I said.

"Oh crap, yeah," she said and we got to shopping. When we were done we had a cart full of food, and a bunch of presents. They weren't big presents. A small stuffed cat for Hinata, a stuffed dog for Kiba and a toy for Akamaru, a book each for Neji, Tenten, and Lee on martial arts and some guy, a big stuffed fox for Naruto and a big stuffed snake for Sasuke; Gaara picked them out, and a hard puzzle book for Shikamaru that he would probably get through in an hour, so we bought him a small stuffed deer too; My idea.

**Temari P.O.V.**

When we were done I gave Kankuro and Gaara the money I had for the food and they went to Shikamaru, so I went to his dad with the presents. "Hello Temari, why aren't you working?" he asked.

"I need to buy these things," I told him.

"For what?" he asked.

"They are presents for people," I told him.

"Ok, well what are you using to pay?" he asked. I pulled out the rest of the money that I had with me and handed it to him. He scanned the things I wanted to buy and gave me my discount for working there then turned to me. "You don't have enough money."

"Well what about that Christmas bonus you said you were going to give me?" I asked.

"Oh yes," he said adding that to the money I already paid. Then he gave me the rest of my bonus; it wasn't much though.

After paying I walked outside with Gaara and Kankuro. "How we going to get this home, we can't bring the carts," Kankuro said.

"One secant," I said pulling out my cell phone and turning it on for the first time in a while. Our mom and dad had bought it for me when I was younger for emergencies, so it was pretty out dated. They bought a life time contract for it; I don't know how they go one of them. But I get a few minutes a month on it. I dialled the number Deidara gave me for him and he picked up.

"Hello?"  
"Hey, it's Temari."  
"Oh, I didn't know you still had this number."  
"Yeah well I have a favour to ask."  
"What?"  
"Can you come to pick up my brothers and the stuff we just bought at Nara's shop?"  
"Sure, I'll be there in a few secants, we are driving by it now."  
"Thank you, bye," I hung up.

"Who was that?" Gaara asked.

"Deidara," I told him as he drove into the parking lot. They put the stuff in the car and got in.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"That is sure a lot of stuff you got there," Sasori said. "What's it for?"  
"Nothing important," I said plainly as Kankuro told Deidara how to get to our house. _I really hate these two; I don't know why Temari talks to them._

"You two sure aren't as nice as Temari," he said.

"That's because we don't know you," I said coldly.

"Ok that's enough of that guys, we are here," Deidara told us and we got out. "Need any help?" he asked kindly. _He is probably faking that kindness._

"No, we're good," I said quickly grabbing as many bags as I could carry and headed to the door. Deidara waved good-bye to us and drove off.

When we got into the house we put the food away and took the presents to the basement. We took out the wrapping paper we bought with the extra money we had after buying food. We spent the rest of the day wrapping the present for a surprise for Temari when she got home.

**Temari P.O.V.**

When we were all done at the shop Shikamaru and his dad closed up, and I finished cleaning up. I started walking home when Shikamaru ran up to me. "Would you like a ride?" he asked.

"Oh now you ask. Why don't you ask in the mornings when it's cold? I had to get Deidara to drive me," I said rolling my eyes.

"W-well I-I don't know," he said nervously.

I laughed. "Whatever, it's ok. But I think I'm going to walk home," I told him.

"Ok wait a secant," he told me running off. A few minutes later he came back and his dad drove out of the parking lot.

"I'm guessing your coming with me," I said. He nodded and we started walking.

"So you got a ride with Deidara this morning?" he asked.

"Yeah, didn't you see us hugging in the parking lot; you usually never miss us doing something like that," I said jokingly.

"No I never," he said jealously.

"You're getting jealous again," I said with a sigh. "I told you we are just friends."

"And I told you I get jealous easily," he replied.

"Well you are going to just have to get use to it," I told him as we got to the front door of my house.

"I'll try," he said. "See you tomorrow." He gave me a good-bye kiss.

I blushed and turned to the door, Shikamaru smiled. "What?" I asked.

"I finally got you to blush that's all," he said.

"Oh, well bye," I said opening the door, and he stated to walk home.


	17. Christmas Party, Deidara's Gift

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I woke up the next morning to more pounding on my door. "Gaara get up we have to get ready for the party, Temari and I aren't going to do it all on our own!" Kankuro yelled at me. I rolled over onto my side and put my pillow over my head. _I don't care if we are having the party today. I had to get up early yesterday, so I'm not going to today._ Kankuro banged on the door some more. "I said get the hell up!"

"Just because we are more like brothers now doesn't mean I'm going to listen to you when you try to get my up on the weekends. Now go away!" I yelled back, but it was kind of muffled from the pillow. The knocking on the door stopped and I heard him stomp off. _Maybe I'll finally get some sleep now. I was up all night getting ready, and now he expects me to get up early to help some more?_ A few secants later I was fast asleep.

After about an hour of sleeping I felt a hand on my arm. It shook me gently. I opened my eyes and saw Temari standing there. I looked up and her and sighed, then rolled away from her. _I guess that sand hill doesn't help much when it comes to people getting into my room._

"Gaara get up please," Temari said sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"I don't want to," I said in a tired voice rolling over to face her and sitting up. "I was up all night with Kankuro setting up."

She gave me a puzzled look. "Is that why when I got up there were things up already?" she asked.

I nodded. "He didn't want to wake you up, and wanted you to get your sleep so he dragged me out of bed an hour after we all went to sleep. Then he made me set up with him so there was less to do in the morning, and then when he thought we had enough done it was three in the morning," I told her yawning and rubbing my eyes.

"Are you really telling me the truth?" she asked. I nodded again. She stared at me for a moment and then said, "Ok, I believe you. So you stay here and sleep and I'll come back and wake you up two hours or so before the party if you're not up by then."

I smiled and gave her a hug. "Thank you," I said falling back down onto my pillow.

"I noticed you're only affectionate or nice to people who give you stuff or let you do what you want," she said.

"I'm nice to people that are nice to me, so what?" I asked.

"Well then why aren't you nice to Kankuro? He is nice to you," she said.

I sighed. "He is only nice to me sometimes, and when he is I'm nice back. And before you say anything I know he is trying harder to be a good, nice brother, and I do appreciate him for that," I told her.

She got up. "Ok, well, have a good sleep Gaara," she said leaving my room. I pulled the covers over my head and fell asleep.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Temari came back into the kitchen without Gaara. I looked at her. "Is he getting ready then?" I asked.

"No," she said.

"You couldn't get him up either?" I asked.

"Oh no, I got him up. He is just really tired and told me about how you kept him up all night getting ready," she said.

"Hey he agreed to it," I told her.

"Either way he is tired, and he is going to be falling asleep at the party if we make him get up now," she said with a sigh.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," I said. _No wonder he likes Temari better. She lets him do whatever the hell he wants._

We got the food ready to cook and fixed up the kitchen. We had to go hunting around in the basement for the middle piece for the table so that everyone could sit and eat. We didn't want everyone all over the house like during the Halloween party when they ate breakfast where ever. After finding the piece and finally getting it up stairs we had to actually put it in the table. That also took forever since we never did it before and couldn't make it fit right, but we got it eventually. Then we put the food in the oven to cook, and set the table.

Just as we were almost finished the doorbell rang. I went to get it as Temari finished off. When I opened the door I saw Deidara. "What do you want?" I asked.

"Wow, that's a mean way to greet someone don't you think?" he asked. I shrugged. "Anyways I came to drop these off."

He handed me three nicely wrapped boxes. "Are you sure you never meant to just give one?" I asked.

"Nope three, one for each of you," he said smiling.

"Why did you get something for me and Gaara too?" I asked.

"Because you're Temari's brothers and I wanted to do something nice for all of you. So why did you answer the door, where are your parents?" he asked.

"Out," I told him.

"Oh, that's too bad I wanted to give them theirs in person," he said handing me two more boxes. "Oh well. I'll see you later I need to get to Itachi's house for a practice session for the band." And he ran off back to his car.

"Who was at the door?" Temari asked as she saw me open the door to the basement.

"Deidara," I told her going down the stairs.

She rushed over to me. "What did he want?" she asked following me down.

"He gave us five presents," I told her.

"Five? Why five?" she asked.

"One for you, one for Gaara, one for me, one for mom, and one for dad," I said.

"Why would he want to buy someone's parents a present?" she asked.

"I don't know, I don't even know why he got me and Gaara one each either. We were kind of mean to him and Sasori yesterday, and he doesn't even know us," I told her putting them on the floor in the corner of the room. "I think something is up with him or he is planning something."

"Oh, so just because he buys everyone in our family presents there is something up with him, or he is planning something? That's stupid to think and you know it," she told me.

"I think he wants to get back together with you, and is trying to get you on his good side, or to like him again," I told her.

She rolled her eyes. "We are just friends now, and sure I know he still likes me. But he knows I'm dating and he wouldn't try to get me back or get me to break up, he is a good person," she said leading the way back up stairs.

**Temari P.O.V.**

There was two hours left until the party and Gaara still wasn't up. So I went back into his room, like I said I would, to wake him up. I gently shook him again and he opened his eyes and sat up. "Is it time already?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, and we are done setting up and everything so you don't need to do anything," I told him.

"That's good, I think staying up all night was good enough," he said getting out of bed. He put on a shirt and some pants that were lying on the sand he called his floor.

"Are you really going to wear those? They are full of sand," I said.

"No they aren't I make sure they aren't before I put them on, and anyways I always put what I'm going to wear the next day on the floor so I don't have to waste time picking out something in the morning," he told me motioning me to go to the door.

"Ok fine, as long as they aren't dirty it doesn't really matter," I told him as we left his room.

"So I see you finally got the spoilt brat up," Kankuro said jokingly.

"Yeah I'm so spoilt I got to stay up all night and sleep in," Gaara said rolling his eyes. Kankuro ruffled Gaara's hair. "What the hell, now I have to go fix my hair!" he said angrily.

"It doesn't look any different, you didn't even brush it," I said.

Gaara laughed. "I know," he said.

"You little twerp," Kankuro said as we went into the room at the front of the house to wait for people.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

After about an hour of sitting in the main room of the house with no one coming we got pretty bored. Then the oven beeped and Temari and Kankuro jumped and ran to the kitchen. _I guess that will give them something to do at least._ Just as I was going to get up to see what they were doing because they were taking a while to come back, the doorbell rang. I went to the door and opened it. It was Naruto and Sasuke.

"Oh my god hello Gaara, how are you?" Naruto asked happily giving me a hug.

I quickly pushed him away. "I'm good, how are you guys?" I asked letting them in.

"We're good," Naruto told me dragging Sasuke into the house.

"Are you sure? Sasuke doesn't look too good," I said.

"Oh he is fine, just a little mad that I dragged him over here with a hang over," he told me sitting Sasuke down on the couch and then sitting next to him. I gave him a puzzled look. "He ran off this morning and when I found him he had bummed some beer off some guy."

"And why would you do that?" I asked.

Sasuke burst out laughing. "I just wanted to try some because Itachi never let me before," he said. Then he grabbed his head. "Stupid headache, I hate hangovers!" he said falling onto Naruto's shoulder.

"Umm Sasuke, can you get off me?" Naruto asked as a blush crept across his face.

Sasuke sat up and then leaned on the arm rest holding his head. The blush on Naruto's face left. "I'm going to go see if we have anything for headaches"

"Who is here Gaara?" Temari asked when I walked in. She was looking over the food and Kankuro was making a salad.

"Naruto and Sasuke," I told them. "Do we have anything for headaches?"

"Why?" Kankuro asked.

"Sasuke has a huge one," I told him.

Temari went into the very top shelf and took down some medicine. "Here give him two of these," she said giving me two pills.

"Thanks," I said and went back to Sasuke and Naruto.

When I got back to them Sasuke somehow ended up on Naruto's shoulder again. "Sasuke I got you something for your headache," I said.

He sat up and I gave him the pills. "Thank you, I hope it kicks in soon. Stupid Naruto doesn't have anything like this at his house," Sasuke said swallowing them.

"That's because when I get a headache I put up with it and it's not very often. Plus I don't go bum beer off people just to try it and then get a hang over," Naruto told him.

"You should try it sometime then, it's fun," Sasuke told him.

"No thanks, not if it gives you a big headache," Naruto told him.

"You're just no fun," he said.

"I'm loads of fun, I just think what you did isn't fun," Naruto told him.

"I know you're loads of fun, I'm just trying to get you to want to come do it with me," Sasuke told him. Naruto was blushing and looked confused.

Just then the door bell rang. Naruto jumped up making Sasuke fall onto his side; he was leaning on him again. "Hey!" Sasuke yelled.

"I'll come get it with you," Naruto said going to the door with me. At the door were Kiba and Akamaru, and Hinata and Neji. Naruto and I let them in and led them into the house.

"What's up with Sasuke?" Kiba asked when we he saw him.

"Headache," I told him. We sat down and talk for a bit. Then Temari came into the room.

"You guys can head down stairs if you want, Kankuro and I will answer the door now," she told us, and we went down stairs.

**Temari P.O.V.**

The next people to come were Lee and Tenten. "Everyone is in the basement," I told them and they went down to see them. I went back into the kitchen and saw Kankuro making some kind of drink. "What is that it looks sick," I told him looking at the dark green liquid in the glasses.

"I found it in a cook book we had on that shelf," he said.

"We have a cook book?" I asked puzzled.

"Yeah," he said.

"Well is it supposed to be that colour, it's kind of weird looking," I told him.

"Actually it isn't supposed to be, but I didn't have all the things I needed for it so I substituted things. It's supposed to be red or something," he said.

"You didn't have everything so you substituted? And it should be red? I think your way off with that. Why didn't you just make a different drink?" I asked.

"Because this was the only one in it that we actually had stuff for," Kankuro said.

"I think we should put out normal drinks just in case, and did you even test it?" I asked.

"No because if it is bad than it's a waste and we have to dump it, this way everyone can have it and at least try it, and then at least some of it won't be a waste," he told me.

I rolled my eyes. "So you're going to make everyone suffer with this possibly horrible taste just so that you don't have to dump it all out now?" I asked.

"That's the idea, but don't worry I have water and pop on standby," he smirking. I just rolled my eyes again and walked away.

The supper was almost done now, and Shikamaru still wasn't at the house. I looked out the window in the front, but I didn't see him coming. I called his house and asked for him, but his mom said that he had left the house without saying anything. She told me to call back later, because he was never gone for long. I thought it was weird that he wasn't at home, and he just left his house like that. He knew we were having a party today, and he said he was going to come. I grabbed my winter coat and went to go out the door. "Wait, where are you going?" Gaara asked coming up from downstairs.

"To see if I can find Shikamaru," I told him.

"Why don't you just call him?" he asked.

"I called his house and his mom said he left an hour or so ago without saying anything, and he doesn't have a cell phone so I'm going to go look," I told him.

"But it's like a blizzard out there, you can't just go walking around in that," he said angrily. It was snowing hard, and I could barely see out the window by the door.

"I won't go far, and if I can't find him on the way from here to his house then I'll come back," I told him.

"I still think that you are going to get really sick, or hurt, or something in that," he said.

"I'll just ware more coats then," I told him taking off my coat. Then putting on his and Kankuro's, and then mine back on.

"What about your legs?" he asked.

"Your acting like such a dad Gaara, I'll be fine," I said.

"I have to act like a dad to you sometimes, you never think things through when you want to do something," he said.

I put my hands on his shoulders. "I'll be fine, if it gets too cold to walk back or something, then I'll call Deidara to pick me up. Or if I'm close to Shikamaru's I'll go there. I'll be fine I promise," I told him hugging him.

He pushed me away, crossed his arms, and looked away from me. "Fine whatever; just go before it gets worse out there if you're going," he told me. I smiled at him and left.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"She went were?" I asked Gaara angrily.

"To find Shikamaru," he told me with a sigh.

"And you just let her go?" I asked.

"Not really, I told her not to. But what was I suppose to do she is older than me," he said.

I sighed. "I'll have to go after her then," I said.

"You can't, she took both our jackets," he told me. I was really angry and ready to hit the wall when Gaara changed the subject. "What the hell is that green stuff?" he asked. I explained to him what I told Temari and he looked at me disgusted. I told him that he didn't have to drink it if he didn't want to, and that I just didn't want it to go to waste. So everyone else can have a drink of it, and if no one likes it then it would be dumped. "As long as I don't have to drink it I'm fine with it," he told me and went back down stairs.

I finished making all the food and Temari still wasn't back. _It's going to be supper time and she isn't back yet. I guess I could wait a bit and keep the food warm._ I went down stairs to where everyone else was. "Where are Shikamaru and Temari?" Lee asked.

"They are probably off doing stuff together," Kiba said smirking holding Akamaru in his lap.

"Actually Shikamaru didn't come, so Temari went out in the storm to go look for him," I told them sitting down where Sasuke, Neji, Kiba, Gaara, and Lee were playing cards. Hinata, Tenten, and Naruto were watching a movie on Hinata's portable DVD player off to the side.

"Well why didn't you stop her?" Lee asked.

"Because Gaara was the one who was talking to her when she left, and told me about it," I told him.

"Hey, she wouldn't listen to me. And at least I got her to dress warmer, she was going to leave with just one coat on," Gaara said.

"You are such a dad," Sasuke said. Gaara glared at him. "It's true, first me and getting me stuff for my headache, and now Temari and making her ware more things to stay warm."

"Gaara has always been like that though," I told him.

"Shut up Kankuro, I don't want to have to beat someone up," Gaara told me glaring at me now.

"So Naruto, why are you watching a chick flick again?" Neji asked changing the subject.

Naruto looked at him. "I don't know, but it's actually a good movie," he said. Sasuke mumbled something that we couldn't hear. "I am not!" Naruto yelled at him as if read his lips. Sasuke gave Naruto a smirk. "Shut up Sasuke, I can do what I want!" Naruto yelled. Everyone just looked at Sasuke and then back at Naruto. Naruto started to blush. "Stop looking at me!" he said turning the volume up and Hinata's DVD player. Everyone started to laugh, and Naruto gave us a bad hand jester.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I walked in the cold down the road. _Maybe this was a bad Idea._ I was shaking as I walked. My legs were freezing because I never put on anything extra there like Gaara said I should, and my hands were under all the coats I was wearing. My feet were starting to get cold too, which wasn't a good sign. As I walked it got harder and harder to see where I was, but I knew I was getting close to Shikamaru's house.

When I was close I bumped into someone walking the other way, and I fell down. _Who would be walking out here in this, that's stupid? What am I saying; I'm walking out here in this storm too._ A hand reached out for me to grab. So I took one hand out of my coat and grabbed it. It pulled me up and I heard a voice say sorry. I heard it before. "Shikamaru, is that you?" I asked.

"Yeah, who did you think it was?" he asked pulling my hand towards my house.

"I don't know I couldn't see anything, stupid," I told him.

"Why are you out here anyways?" he asked.

"I was looking for you, you were late coming and when I called your house your mom said that we had been gone for an hour or so," I told him.

"I was out for a walk, so sue me," he said.

"You were out for a walk in this?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't be talking if I were you. You were out walking in it too," he said.

I laughed. "And I should have worn more layers of pants like Gaara told me too. It's so cold out here, and my hand is freezing now," I said taking out my cell phone with my hand that Shikamaru wasn't holding and dialling Deidara's number.

"Who are you calling?" Shikamaru asked stopping to put a glove on my hand.

"Deidara, he should be coming home from practising by now," I said.

"You know his bands practising hours?" he asked jealously.

"Yeah," I told him as Deidara picked up. I told Deidara about what happened and how we needed a ride home so we didn't freeze.

"What do you mean you can't pick us up?" I asked in a sweet, girly voice.  
"I mean the roads are bad."  
"But Dei-Dei its cold and we could freeze to death."  
"Wow, you haven't called me that since you broke up with me."  
"Well are you going to come get us or not? It's a long walk back to my house from Shika's."  
"And what happens if I get in an accident on the way to get you?"  
"It's a small town, and there is no one out driving, and there isn't ice out on the road yet."  
"Fine, I'll come. But I was going to spend the night here with Itachi and the rest of the guys. But since you need a ride, I'll probably just go home after."  
"Thank you, we are about two or three houses away from Shika's."  
"Ok, I'll be right there."

I hung up and put my phone back in my pocket. Then put my hand back under the coats. "How come you never talk like that to me?" Shikamaru asked jealously.

"Because you've never said no to anything I asked for from you," I told him talking normally again.

"Yeah well," he paused like he couldn't think of anything to say. I laughed. Then he said, "My hands cold."

I was going to say mine was too, but then I realized that it had a glove on it. "Did you give me one of your only gloves?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you said it was cold," he told me.

"Well why didn't you ask if I wanted to share it?" I asked.

"How do you share a glove?" he asked.

"By both people having their hand in it at the same time," I said.

"Oh," he said putting his hand in the glove too.

"You know, for a really smart person you're not that smart at all," I teased.

"You're so mean to me, I hate you," he told me.

"Then why don't you take your glove back and why do you hang around with me if you hate me?" I asked. He didn't say anything. "That's what I thought."

Deidara's car came a few minutes later. We got in and were instantly warm. "Holly, it's hot in this car," Shikamaru said.

"Well I couldn't let you two get into a cold car when you were freezing outside," Deidara told him.

"How did you get it so hot though?" I asked.

"Super powered heater, I have a super powered AC too," he told me.

"How did you get it?" I asked.

"I found it at a car parts store when I was looking for parts to fix my car up with when it broke down a few months ago," he said as we pulled up to the house.

"Well thanks for the ride, I really appreciate it. Bye," I said leaning into the front of the car a little and giving him a hug.

"Bye, I have a good Christmas just in case I don't see you before it," he said.

"You too Dei-Dei," I said smiling at him and getting out of the car.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

As we went up stairs to go eat without Temari and Shikamaru I heard the front door open. I went to go see who it was, and I saw them taking off their winter gear. "Where were you? We were going to eat without you guys," I told them.

"I was looking for him I told you, and I bumped into him just as I got to his house. And we still wouldn't be here if Deidara didn't come pick us up and drive us," Temari told me.

"What's up with you and Deidara lately? He has like come over here, or picked you up so many times, and it's only been two days," I told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well first he drives you to work yesterday, then you call him and get him to pick me and Kankuro up, then he comes over here with presents for us, and then he drives you home. Don't you think that's kind of weird?" I asked.

"He has really done all that in two days? It sounds like you are kind of using him," Shikamaru told her.

"I am not using him. He volunteered to do all those things," she said.

"Not drive us home, you had to use a sweet girly voice to get him to do that," he told her.

"So, he was happy that he did it though. It gave him a reason to leave Itachi's house," she said.

"I still think something is up, or he wants something," I told her.

"Well whatever it is that he wants, or is going to do, it's not going to happen. So just lay off him, he is a nice guy," she told us and walked into the kitchen.

Shikamaru and I sat down as Temari and Kankuro set the food on the table. Everyone took what they wanted and started to eat. "What is this green stuff?" Naruto asked looking at his glass.

"Something I made," Kankuro said.

"Oh," Naruto said looking at it disgusted.

I whispered to Naruto. "You better drink it or you will hurt Kankuro's feelings," I told him.

"Only if someone else dose too," he whispered back.

"Well, tell the whole table to drink it at the same time then," I said. So Naruto whispered in Sasuke's ear, and he whispered in Kiba's, and pretty soon everyone was holding their glasses ready to drink; except for Temari, Kankuro, and I. Everyone raised their glasses at the same time, and drank at the same time. All their eyes went wide, and they all spit it out on each other. Temari, Kankuro, and I started laughing.

"I told you it would be bad," Temari said.

"It probably tastes offal," I said.

"Hey, It's not my fault I wanted to make a drink and we never had anything to make it," Kankuro said. When everyone realized that we never drank any they got mad.

"Why would you tell me to drink it if you weren't?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like it being bad hurt Kankuro's feelings," Tenten said.

"You got them to drink it because you told them if they never it would hurt my feelings?" Kankuro asked.

"Yeah, smart huh?" I said.

"I knew it was going to be bad guys, I just didn't want it to go to waste," Kankuro told them.

"I still can't believe Neji and Shikamaru fell for it though," Temari said.

"You guys have to try it now, or we are leaving," Kiba told us as Akamaru ate from his own plate on the floor.

"In this weather I don't think you will, but we will try it anyways," Temari told him. Kankuro and I looked at her puzzled. She picked up the glass put it to her lips and tilted it. Then she glanced over at me and Kankuro and winked. She pretended to dink some and then put it back down on the table. "I don't know what you guys are talking about, this is good," she told them.

Kankuro and I caught on and did what she did. "You're right it is good," I said. "And I wasn't going to drink it."

"I can't believe something that looks this bad can taste so good," Kankuro said.

Naruto, Kiba, and Lee looked at us puzzled. "You did something to the rest of our drinks didn't you, that's why they taste bad," Naruto said.

"That's the only thing that makes sense," Lee told him.

"Let's take theirs!" Kiba yelled. And the three boys took our drinks. They each drank half a glass. Then their eyes widened and they spit it out. Everyone started laughing at them.

"They tricked us again!" Lee told Naruto and Kiba.

"They are trying to make fools out of us!" Naruto yelled.

"Akamaru and I are going to kill them!" Kiba yelled.

"You guys are too easy to fool," Temari told them.

"And I still can't believe Gaara got all of you to drink it. I mean I knew Kiba, Naruto, and Lee would, but the rest of you? That was just too funny," Kankuro told them starting to clean up the dishes. Naruto, Lee, and Kiba glared at us.

"I'm glad you think we're so stupid," Naruto said.

"We don't think you're stupid, we just think you are easy to prank," I told him. "Like I said at the beginning of the year, if you're not in on the pranks then you will get a prank pulled on you."

After the dishes were all cleared away, Kankuro brought out the desert, and Temari put more dishes on the table. "Here is some desert to make up for the prank," Kankuro said. Everyone looked at us.

"What?" Temari asked.

"You aren't going to prank us again are you?" Hinata asked.

"If you guys don't trust us then we'll eat the entire desert ourselves," I told them taking some and putting it on a plate. Then Temari and Kankuro did the same. They continued to stare at us. And we started to eat. After a few bites everyone took some knowing now that it was ok to eat.

**Temari P.O.V.**

After we ate we went down stairs and watched a few movies. Then it was time to open gifts. Everyone loved the gifts we got them, and we loved the ones we got from them. We got some money, posters, toys, stuffed animals, also Gaara got some sand things, I got some fans, and Kankuro got some dolls. We all thanked each other, and looked over our things. "What about those five gifts in the corner?" Naruto asked getting up to run over there, but Sasuke grabbed his shirt and pulled him back down. Naruto got mad and was struggling to get away, but Sasuke whispered something in his ear none of us could hear and Naruto went still. I got up and went to get the presents instead.

"Oh, they are the ones from Deidara," I said. "Do you guys want to open them?"

"Not really," Gaara said.

"Why is there five though?" Lee asked.

"One for each of us, and two for our parents," Kankuro said rolling his eyes.

"Oh, that's right, he still doesn't know," Tenten said.

"And we are going to keep it that way too," Gaara said angrily. "Now Temari put them back, we don't need to open them."

"No, I want to open mine," I told him putting Kankuro's and Gaara's presents back. I went back to where everyone was sitting and opened it. It was a big box. I opened the box and found money, clothes, and some candy. At the bottom was a card:

Temari,

Hope you like the gift I got you. For the clothes one is the bands new shirt we got made, and then other is just something I thought you might like,

From Deidara

I pulled out the shirt that wasn't the band shirt and looked at it. It was a black short sleeve shirt that said "What are you looking at?" across the chest in white sparkly letters. I laughed and put it on over my other shirt.

When the boys saw it they all turned red. "You all just read it didn't you?" I asked laughing.

"That's not funny, now you are going to know if we look because we will read it and blush," Lee said.

"Are you saying you look at her there all the time?" Gaara asked angrily.

"Not all the time," he told him.

"But you do, don't you," he said. Lee blushed. Gaara stood up with his fist clenched, but I pulled him back down.

"It's ok I knew every time he did anyways, and I thought I told you not to get involved in this stuff anymore," I said angrily.

"It's a reflex because I'm so use to doing that now," he told me. I just rolled my eyes.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"Does she really know every time I look at her chest?" Lee asked me in a whisper.

"Why the hell are you asking me? She said she does so she must. And I'm pretty sure all girls know when you are looking at them there, some just ignore it," I told him.

"You mean every time I..." he trailed off.

"I'm guessing it's not just her?" I asked.

"I need to talk to Tenten for a secant," he said.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"What, she is hot and rich, and Temari is just really hot. I can't help it," he said getting up.

"You're such an idiot," I told him as he went over to Tenten. _And I'm going to have to beat you up if you keep talking about my sister that way, and looking at her like that._

Lee started to talk to Tenten and Neji, and then Neji came walking over to me and sat down. "Do you know why he wanted to talk to her alone?" Neji asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, he has a thing for hot, taken, girls. And he went over there to say sorry to her," I told him.

Neji raised an eyebrow. "For what?" he asked.

"Looking at her chest all the time," I told him. "So now he is either going to get smacked, or get smacked the next time she catches him doing it."

"I hope she smacks him hard across the face," Neji said angrily, but she never. She gave him a hug and then came over to us. Then her and Neji went and sat on the other side of the room.

"What did you say to her? I thought she would be mad that you did something like that, and Neji was hoping you would get smacked across the face," I told Lee when he came back over to me.

"I told her I was sorry for anything I ever did to her that made her feel uncomfortable and that it was a total accident that I did, and that if I ever do it in the future I'm sorry and it's an accident," he told me.

"Oh come on. You know as well as I do it's never an accident when I guy looks there," I told him.

"I know that, and you know that, and she knows that too. But she still said "ok" and gave me a hug," he said happily like he had accomplished something.

"You know she only did that because you have been friends for a long time so she is use to it," I told him.

"Yes, and that makes it all the more easy to do," he said still smiling.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

After everyone was done looking over their stuff we started to head upstairs. "Wait!" Naruto yelled as we were going to go up. "I want to know what that Deidara guy got you, or I'm not leaving!"

"If they don't want to open them then they don't have to," Sasuke told him grabbing him by the shirt. "Now come on."

"I kind of want to see too though," Lee said.

"Plus Sasuke may be able to get me out of here now, but once he is asleep I can come back over. I have nothing better to do," Naruto told Kankuro and me as he was being pulled over to the stairs.

"No you won't, because I won't sleep tonight if you're going to do that," Sasuke told him.

"You're no fun, I hate you! I'm going to kick you out of my house!" he yelled at him punching him, but it had no effect.

"Come on guys don't fight, if you really want to see then I'll open mine," Kankuro told them and Sasuke stopped dragging Naruto to the stairs.

"What are you saying? You aren't really going to open that guys present to us are you?" I asked him in an angry whisper.

"Yes I am, I mean how bad can it be?" he asked.

"Fine, I'll open mine too," I said annoyed at everyone. But everyone cheered and went running back into a circle. The present that Deidara got Kankuro and I wasn't much, it was just his bands shirt and ten dollars. "Well isn't he thoughtful," I said rolling my eyes tossing the shirt into the corner of the room, and putting the money in my pocket.

"That wasn't very nice Gaara. Go pick it up," Temari told me.

"No, it's not like I'm ever going to wear it," I told her.

"That's too bad, because you could wear it to their concerts and stuff. They play the type of music you like," she told me.

"Yeah right," I said picking up the shirt like she told me to.

"Fine don't believe me, but at least hang it up in your closet," she told me.

"Whatever," I said.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"Open the other two too!" Naruto yelled running over and grabbing them.

"I'm not opening gifts that were supposed to be for my mom and dad," Gaara told him crossing his arms.

"It would probably be a good idea though, just in case the unlikely event happens and Deidara asks how your parents liked the gifts. Then you can say that they loved them, and what they were. That way he won't think anything suspicious and you won't be worried or wonder what 

the gift was, which would give away that they weren't actually opened," Neji told us. We all looked at him and blinked; except Shikamaru who joined in the conversation. We looked over to him as he talked.

"Yes, but if they do open the gift and say that, then he might think they are just saying it to be nice. In which case he would want their parents to answer directly, and when he keeps coming over and they are never home he will think something is up. So that would mean that opening the presents would be a bad idea, and they should just tell him they don't know what they thought of them," Shikamaru told him. We all looked back at Neji.

"That is a good point. But I think that they should just open them and see what is in it before making the overall decision on what to do. That way we can base what they do on what the present is, instead of what we think Deidara will do. Because as you know the human mind is unpredictable so we really can't base it on that," he told him. We looked back at Shika.

"You make a good argument. But I still think if we think over all the possibilities, then we won't even have to open it and risk the chance of him wanting to come over and talk to their parents because of the fact that they know what's in it. He might think something is up, and that they shouldn't even know what was in it. Plus if we do look at all the points then we could be able to know what he is thinking and going to do," he told him. We looked to Neji.

"Ah, but studies have shown that you might figure out what the human mind is thinking and what the person will do, but humans are known to change their mind and opinion on something quite quickly. Therefore you can never actually know what the person is going to do. You might know one secant, but in the next they might change their mind and do the complete opposite of what they were going to do a moment before," he argued.

"This is stupid, we aren't getting anywhere with you two arguing like this!" I yelled.

"Yeah, and plus I didn't understand most of the things you guys were talking about," Naruto told them.

"It's really very simple actually, want me to explain it?" Shikamaru asked him.

"No, we don't need an explanation on all that junk," Gaara told them angrily.

"Yeah, it's probably not even as hard as you two were making it," Tenten told them.

Kankuro went over to the presents and ripped them open. "What are you doing!?" Shikamaru yelled.

"Finding out what these stupid presents are!" He yelled at him.

"Oh great, now you two have gone and done it," Gaara told them.

"We didn't do anything, we were just going over the situation," Neji told him.

"How can you two date guys like this?" Lee asked Tenten and me pointing at Shikamaru and Neji.

"It's probably to feel even smarter when they know something those two don't," Sasuke told him.

"No, that's not why at all!" Tenten and I yelled at him.

"Then what is it?" he asked smirking.

"I like Neji because he is sweet and romantic," Tenten told him.

He gave her a look. "He is like that? He doesn't seem like that kind of person," he told her. Neji glared at him and clenched his fist.

"Well he is," she told him angrily.

"And I like Shikamaru for the same reasons, and he is funny," I told him.

Sasuke looked at me now. "He doesn't look like that type either, and I've never seen him do anything funny in the years I've known him," he told me. Shikamaru was glaring and clenching his fist too now.

"Sasuke leave them alone," Naruto told him.

"You're just jealousy because we chose them and not you!" Tenten and I yelled at him.

He laughed. "You really think that?" he asked. We nodded. "Sorry to disappoint you, but neither of you are my type," he said.

"Sasuke stop it!" Naruto yelled. He looked at him. "Those four are your friends; they were there for you when you had nothing. Why are you being so mean to them, they didn't do anything to you."

Sasuke laughed. "I was just joking around and having a little fun. You guys are so easily bothered. I didn't mean anything by it," he told us.

"Well I guess if you were just kidding around then it's ok," I told him.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

When Temari, Tenten, Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru were done with their little argument they came over to where Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, Lee, Kankuro, and I were looking at the presents to our parents. Akamaru was sniffing the paper.

"So what are they?" Temari asked.

"He just wrapped up two damn cards in wrapping paper," I told them.

"Well what do the cards say?" Tenten asked.

"Ha-ha, got you didn't I? Merry Christmas to you guys," Kankuro read.

"And the other one has a holiday poem in it, and decorated really nice. And at the bottom it says: I wrapped them up so they wouldn't get wrecked, because I thought they looked nice," Hinata read.

"Well that's a stupid gift," Kiba said. We looked at him. "Well it is."

"Whatever, let's just put all the cards out around the kitchen now," I said grabbing the ones that were to us and heading to the stairs while everyone picked up their stuff.

When we got to the kitchen I put the cards out, and Temari got plastic bags for everyone to carry their things home in. Then Kankuro got some more snacks out for everyone, and brought them into the living room. "I feel bad that we just picked up our stuff and left, do you want us to help clean up?" Hinata asked. _Yes we want you to help clean up._

"No it's ok, we'll do it ourselves after everyone is gone," Kankuro told them. _Says you, I hate cleaning. You and Temari can do it._ I glared at him. We sat and talked and ate snacks as everyone slowly got picked up to go home. Soon it was just Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sasuke left to leave.

"It's really snowing out there now," Naruto said.

"I might not be able to get home," Shikamaru told us. "My mom can't come get me in this."

"It's ok, you can stay overnight," Temari told him looking at him sweetly.

"To hell with that, he can walk home!" I yelled.

"We can't just send these three walking home," Kankuro told me.

"Yeah, they can sleep on the floor in here," Temari told me.

"Fine, as long as you keep your door locked," I told her glaring at Shikamaru.

"What's wrong with you? What do you honestly think I'm going to do to her that you're like this all the time?" He asked angrily.

"You know perfectly well what I think you want with her," I told him.

"I'm not the big pervert you think I am," he told me.

"All guys are perverts at one point ok, so give up trying to make me think differently about you," I told him. They all looked at me. _Great I just labelled all the guys including me as perverts._

"So when have you been a pervert then?" Temari asked me. I didn't say anything. "No really Gaara, I want to know. When were you?"

"I haven't been," I mumbled.

"See, you haven't been. So what makes you think Shika is? If you honestly have never been a pervert how can you label all the other guys one?" she asked.

"I can't," I said quietly.

"What, I can't hear you," she said.

"I can't ok, I can't! I'm sorry Shikamaru, I'm sorry for saying that about you! And Naruto and Sasuke and Kankuro too, seeing as I said all guys!" I yelled. Then I stormed off to my room.

"You went a little too far there Temari," I heard Kankuro tell her as I slammed my door.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I fell down onto the couch and put my head in my hands. I shook my head. "I feel so bad now," I said. "I embarrassed him, and made him feel bad."

"He'll get over it," Sasuke said.

"I still feel bad," I said.

"I know you were trying to defend me, but I wouldn't even have gone that far," Shikamaru told me sitting next to me and hugged me.

"So you're saying that I should go say sorry," I said.

"Yeah, that would probably make him feel a little better. Even if he doesn't act like it does," he told me letting go.

"Ok, then I will leave you guys to clean up the basement, and I'll go say sorry," I said.

"Sure," Kankuro said.

"Do we have to?" Naruto whined.

"Yes, come on," Sasuke said dragging him to the stairs.

"I can't help but feel we got ripped off," I heard Shikamaru say as I turned the corner to go to Gaara's room.

I walked up to Gaara lying on his bed. "We did it, they are cleaning now and we don't have to," I told him.

"That was a great plan we made while putting the Christmas cards out. How did you know those three weren't going to go home?" Gaara asked.

"Because I knew the weather was going to get this bad, and that Shikamaru is always the last to leave and he wouldn't be able to in that. I'm just sorry if it embarrassed you even a little bit," I told him. He shrugged.

"So now we just sit here until they are done cleaning?" he asked.

"Yeah, or we can go sit in the living room and eat snacks," I told him.

"That sounds better than sitting in my room," he said, and we left to the living room.

After the guys were done cleaning they came back upstairs and saw us eating the snacks. "What the hell is this? I thought you were mad at Temari, how did you get over it so fast?" Kankuro asked. Gaara and I looked at each other and started to laugh.

"We got you guys good," Gaara said.

"Yeah, thanks for cleaning up without us," I said.

"So you planed that whole fight then?" Shika asked.

"Yeah, so we could eat snacks and put our feet up while you guys did all the work," I told him.

"You would make a very bad wife you know that," Sasuke said.

"Why do you care, it's not like I'm going to marry you," I told him.

"Well who ever does is going to have a lot of work to do," he said.

"Yeah well who asked you?" I said. Sasuke smirked.

"Ok guys, stop fighting we're all friends here," Naruto said.

"Whatever," Sasuke said.

"Just kidding around again?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Thought so," he said.

"Well that's enough for tonight, I'm going to bed and I will be locking my door to make Gaara happy," I said jokingly.

"You may be laughing, but that was the one thing I wasn't joking about when I said it," Gaara told me.

"Whatever, I'll lock it," I said leaving the room.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

After an hour of just sitting there and talking I stood up. "Come on Gaara, let's go to bed," I said.

"I want to stay up," he told me.

"Why? Shikamaru and Naruto are already asleep, and I'm sure Sasuke is tired. Plus I don't want to leave you two alone to plot pranks on us and stuff," I told him.

Gaara smirked. "You know me too well," he said getting up. "Well goodnight Sasuke."

"Goodnight you two," he said, and we went to our rooms.


	18. Shut Up Naruto! Pervert? Chouji

**Temari P.O.V.**

I woke the next morning still really tired. I could have gone back to bed if I wanted, but I heard noises in the kitchen. So I got up, put on my robe; because I sleep in my underwear; and walked to the kitchen. When I got there I saw Naruto helping himself to the leftovers in the fridge. "I should have known it was you," I said rolling my eyes and closing the fridge on him.

"Hey, why did you do that?" he asked.

"Because it is my house, not yours, you can't just go take things without asking," I told him angrily.

"But I'm hungry!" he yelled.

"Shut up," I told him in a harsh whisper. "Put all that stuff back and I'll start making breakfast. Everyone will be up soon anyways, and if it's still too bad out for you to go home then you can have the leftovers for lunch and supper."

Naruto smiled. "Thank you," he said putting then stuff back, and racing back to the living room. _Yeah, don't bother asking if I want help Naruto! I'll be fine! Damn, now I have to make food for six people! Stupid Naruto!_

I set up everything to start cooking when Shikamaru walked into the kitchen. "If you want something to eat you're going to have to wait like I told Naruto," I told him.

"I never came here to eat, I came here to help," he told me.

"What happened to "Women should cook and clean for the men"?" I asked rolling my eyes.

"I thought we talked about that already," he said.

"Whatever, just start cracking the eggs while I poor the pancake batter," I told him.

"You know you didn't have to do all this, we would have settled for toast, or cereal, or something," he told me.

"Well maybe I want to cook something nice for my friends," I told him.

"You're becoming more and more like a house wife every day," he said with a sigh.

"What was that?" I asked angrily. "And the thought you liked "house wife's".

"I might, I don't really know. Never been with one before, you know, I'm too young," he said.

"Smart ass," I said.

He sighed and turned me to face him. "What I meant was, I like you, and whatever you want to be," he told me bringing his face closer to mine.

"Well you sure have a smart ass way of saying it," I told him. He smirked and kissed me on the lips.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I woke up to Naruto yelling at someone in the kitchen. _Damn you Naruto, waking me up this early!_ I tried to fall back to sleep, but had no luck. So I got up, slowly, and got dressed, slowly, and then went to the kitchen. I got there and walked in on Shikamaru and Temari making out. Shikamaru had his hand on the tie around Temari's robe and was about to pull on. _You better not pull on that Nara!_ I was about to step in and brake them up, but to my surprise Temari pushed him away. Then she stated talking to him in a very scary, angry voice. I went up against the wall so that they couldn't see me.

"What the hell are you doing?" Temari asked.  
"I-"  
"I felt you pulling on the tie on my robe."  
"No I didn't-"  
"What the hell were you trying to do?"  
"I-"  
"Maybe Gaara was right, maybe you are like all the other guys I dated, a big pervert that only wants one thing."  
"Temari let me explain!" he managed to get out.

"Fine," she said. "I guess I should let you do that much."

"I don't know what happened, really. My hand just moved there." He said.

"Sure it did, you pig," Temari said.

"Seriously, I was never going to pull on it and undo it," he told her.

"Whatever, let's just finish making breakfast," she said.

"That's it, you're not going to break up with me or anything?" he asked her.

"No, I had worse then you," she said.

I couldn't sit there and listen any longer. Besides, I need to walk by the kitchen to get to the living room. I went into the kitchen and went to the fridge. "Gaara breakfast is going to be soon, close the fridge," Temari told me.

"I'm getting a drink," I told her pouring some orange juice into a glass. "Oh and by the way, I heard and saw everything," I told them with a smirk and went to the living room.

When I got there Naruto was lying on the floor, and Sasuke had his arm around him. "You know if you don't want people thinking you're gay. Then you shouldn't be like this," I told Naruto.

"It's not my fault! He was on the couch, so I went and lied back down here, and then he rolled off and did this!" Naruto yelled at me with a blush on his face. Sasuke moved a little from the loud noise.

"Well then maybe he needs to stop doing that stuff. Innless you secretly like it," I said smirking at the blush on his face.

"No I don't! I just can't get him up!" he yelled at me. With that Sasuke took his arm away from Naruto, sat up, and rubbed his eyes yawning.

"Who was yelling?" he asked. I pointed to Naruto who was beside him. "What are you doing there?" Sasuke asked angrily.

"It's not my fault! You rolled off the couch, and before I could move you put your arm around me!" Naruto yelled at him.

"I'm sure that's the truth," Sasuke said looking away from him, and moving back onto the couch.

"It is though!" Naruto yelled at him.

"It sounds like a reasonable explanation. I mean it's not like he pulled you off the couch, and put your arm around him his self," I stepped in seeing the very faint blush he was hiding from Naruto.

"Whatever," Sasuke said lying back down. "Call me when breakfast is done."

"Oh, you mean like I do every morning?" Naruto asked angrily, but Sasuke was back to sleep.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I woke up to Naruto yelling twice. Once it came from the kitchen, and the secant time the living room. I quickly got up and put on my clothes. I opened my bedroom door and went straight to the living room. "Naruto you are so loud, you need to keep quiet," I told him. "But at least you didn't wake everyone," I said looking at Sasuke.

"No, he woke everyone, Sasuke just went back to sleep," Gaara told me. I gave Naruto a look.

"What? It's not my fault!" he yelled.

"See, you're yelling again, you need to shut up," I told him and started to walk to the kitchen.

"Watch out, Temari and Shikamaru might be in the middle of making out. Again," Gaara told me.

"I don't really care at the moment. Naruto needs to be fed fast, or he is going to be yelling all day," I told him.

"I will not!" Naruto yelled. I glared at him, and then walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, hey Kankuro," Temari said when I entered. "We are almost done making breakfast."

I looked at her. "Good, Naruto is yelling at everyone. I'll finish, and you go put on some clothes."

"How do you know I'm not wearing any under this?" she asked.

"Because the only time you wear it is if you are coming right from out of the shower, or you just got out of bed and didn't bother to put clothes on," I told her.

"Ok fine, I'll be right back," she said.

Shikamaru started to blush. "You mean-"

"Yeah, that's why I stopped you, idiot," Temari told him, and left to her room.

A few minutes later, when Temari came back, Shikamaru was still blushing. "Your boyfriend is a real pervert. He has been blushing the whole time," I told her.

"Yeah, I know he is," she said.

He looked at us. "Hey, I am not," he said angrily.

"So when did you finally figure out he was?" I asked.

"When he tried to undo tie on my robe," she said rolling her eyes.

"Nara, you're so sick," I told him.

"I am not!" he yelled.

**Temari P.O.V.**

While Kankuro went and got the other three boys, Shikamaru and I put everything on the table. "This is the biggest breakfast I have ever made," I told him. There were pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon, and hash browns set on the table with 2 jugs of orange juice.

"Really, my mom makes this all the time," Shikamaru told me.

"Well I'm not your mother, am I," I said sitting down at the table.

He sat beside me. "No I guess you're not," he said.

When everyone was seated we started to take things and eat. Naruto over filled his plate with food so that there was a huge mountain on it. "Naruto, you are starting to eat like Choji," Shikamaru told him.

"What, I haven't eaten anything this good since Halloween," he told him. "And how would you know Choji still eats lots, you never talk to him anymore."

"Why would I want to talk with a popular kid?" Shikamaru asked.

"What, Choji is a popular kid?!" Naruto yelled.

"Yeah, I found this out the last time I talked to him. I forgot to give him something, so I followed him and saw him talking to Ino. She was thanking him, and giving him a reward for being under cover for them. Then they started walking together. So I through the gift at him, and walked the other way. I will have nothing to do with the popular kids," Shikamaru told him.

"What was it?" I asked.

"A picture of us as friends when we were little, I printed out a copy and framed it for a birthday present to him," I told her. "And then the next day I got the picture back. He put it on the door step, and it had a crack in the frame right through the middle separating us. So I through the frame in the garbage and put this picture in my dresser," he said almost in tears.

"But in the beginning of school he was talking about how it wasn't the same without you in class and stuff," Gaara cut in.

"Well I don't care; he betrayed me, my trust, and our friendship," Shikamaru told him. "And I don't want you guys talking to him anymore either. He is one of the people that tell the popular kids everything about their friends for their own benefit. And I know because when I was going to skip grades he was the only one I told, and soon the whole school was on my case about it."

"Yeah, I remember that. Ino and Sakura were off telling everyone. And that day I did see him talking to Ino," Naruto said.

"Yeah, you see. He can't be trusted anymore," Shikamaru told us.

"Wait a secant. Sasuke, was Choji under cover for you guys when you were a popular?" I asked.

Sasuke thought for a moment, he hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation going on. "Uh, yeah I think he was. He was always over at Ino's, and always sitting with us when he ditched everyone at lunch. And he was always the first person to tell Ino any news about anyone in the class," he told us.

"But what is he getting out of this?" Kankuro asked.

"Food, popularity, rule over the school, dates with Ino when she feels like it, dates with other girls in the poplar's when they feel threatened that they will get kicked out, and he doesn't have to pay for any of the dates either," Sasuke told him. "I think he even went on dates with Hinata and Tenten."

"Can we stop talking about Choji now? It's over and I never want to hear his name again," Shikamaru said angrily. Everyone went quit and back to their food. I touched Shika's foot with mine and rubbed it to tell him it was ok. He gave me a small smile.


	19. Up To Something, Please Believe Me

**Gaara P.O.V.**

It was the end of Christmas brake and the first day back at school. "Gaara, get up!" Temari and Kankuro yelled at me and banged on my bed room door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I yelled at them. I got up, put on my clothes and went to the kitchen. The three of us ate breakfast and then got ready for school.

"Do you guys want a ride to school?" Temari asked.

"First, who would drive us?" Kankuro asked

"Deidara," Temari told us.

"No, we don't want a ride from that creep," I told her.

"Well too bad. Him and Sasori are waiting in the car outside," she told me. "Now you can walk if you want, but you will freeze or be late for school."

Kankuro sighed. "Fine, come one Gaara," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"There you guys are, we are going to be late if we don't hurry," Sasori told us as the tree of us got into the back of the car.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, these two were kind of debating over if they wanted a ride from you or not. And thanks again for picking us up," Temari said.

"Why wouldn't they want a ride? It's cold out, and I know your parents are at work all the time. Plus your on the way to school from my house, it's the least I can do," he told us.

"We could have walked it's not that cold, but we didn't want the leave Temari alone with you," I told him glaring at him.

"I don't know what is wrong with you two. I'm nice to you, I help you, and I even bought you presents. What is so wrong with me that you have to hate me?" he asked angrily.

"I can't put my finger on it, but I know you want something, and whatever it is you can't have it," Kankuro told him.

"I don't want anything, I just want to be your guises friend," he told him.

"Well we know you want to be our friends, but I think you want us to let our guard down so that you can get something form Temari without us expecting it," I told him.

Deidara sighed. "No offends Temari, but your brothers are kind of paranoid," Deidara told me.

"I'm going to have to agree with Deidara," Sasori to me.

"Yeah I think so too sometimes," I told them. Kankuro and I glared at the two boys in the front seat.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"Wow Kankuro, how did you get to school so fast? I was sure with the snow it would take a while like it is going to take Naruto and Sasuke," Tenten said.

"Temari called Deidara and made us take a ride with him," I told her.

"Well that was nice of him to do that," Lee said.

"I don't know, I still think that he wants something with Temari," I told him.

"You know, I'm starting to think you're over reacting, I mean he might just be a nice guy," Neji told me.

"I can't believe you are taking Temari's and his side on this!" Kankuro yelled.

"Well the only people that are going to agree with you are Gaara, and Shikamaru," Tenten said.

"Fine, we'll just drop it then," I said.

"Fine," Lee said as class started.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"You got another ride with Deidara?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, it was cold and I wanted a ride," I told him.

"And what about Gaara and Kankuro?" he asked.

"They came too, but they didn't like it," I told him.

"Well I don't like the fact that you got a ride with him either. You are using him, what if he wants something in return?" he asked.

"Well then depending on what he wants then I'll give it to him. But I don't think he will ask for anything, he is just a nice guy," I told him.

"Whatever, I know he is up to something. But if you don't believe me then whatever," Shikamaru told me as the teacher walked in.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"There is something wrong with that Deidara guy," I told Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, and Hinata.

"Yeah, well from what I heard from you guys say I think he is planning something," Kiba said.

"He wants something, and it involves Temari," Naruto agreed.

"What if he is just being nice?" Hinata asked.

"Guys this is stupid," Sasuke said. "He has got us all confused; he is trying to mess with our minds."

"No, we are just over thinking things, there is probably nothing here at all with him," Hinata said.

"Well we'll see soon, I hope," Gaara told them.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

It was lunch time and I was walking to the lunch room alone. Lee, Tenten, and Neji went ahead because I had to drop something off at my locker. As I walked down the hallway I saw Deidara and his friends. "Hey, Kankuro," Deidara said waving to me and coming over.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"How is Temari?" he asked.

"You just saw her this morning," I told him raising my eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I was wondering if anything happened since then," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Oh, no reason, well never mind then I have to go with the band, bye," he said with a smile and walked away. _There is something wrong with you Deidara, something very wrong._

I told everyone about what had happened with me and Deidara on the way over here. "OK, there is something wrong with him. He wants something, and none of you can say otherwise. You all know it," Gaara said angrily.

"He just wanted to know how I was, is that a crime?" Temari asked.

"Temari, are you cheating on me with him?" Shikamaru asked.

Temari's gnaw dropped. "No I would never do that!" she yelled.

"Well then why are you trying to defend him all the time?" Kiba asked.

"Fine," she said. "I still have feelings for him, and they are getting stronger every time I see how much he has turned into more of a nice guy. But I would never cheat on Shikamaru or anyone, and I would never go back to him, not after what happened between us. It would just be weird for me to go crawling back to him like that."

Everyone looked at her. "Well I for one believe you," Tenten said. Lee, Hinata, Neji, and Naruto nodded.

"Well what about the rest of you?" Temari asked.

"Well I believe you too; I just think Deidara is up to something," Kiba said. Sasuke, Kankuro, and Gaara nodded.

"What about you Shikamaru?" Temari asked him.

"How can I believe you when you just told me that? If you still have feelings for him how am I supposed to know for sure you won't want to go back to him?" Shikamaru asked.

"Because I like you, I like you even more then I use to like Deidara, and more then I like him now. You are a great guy and a great boyfriend. I would never want to lose you, or do anything to lose you," Temari told him. Most people had stopped paying attention to the conversation they were having now.

"How do I know that isn't a lie, I mean you were mad at me during Christmas for what I did," he said.

"I was mad at you at the time, things like that don't keep me mad for long; especially if it is a guy I really like that does that. And I really like you, so it doesn't matter if you are a pervert or not, I'll never get scared of you, or get mad for long. Because I like you for who you are," she told him starting to cry.

"I-I don't know what to say," Shikamaru said.

"Just tell me that you believe me that's all I need I don't care if everyone else believes me. You believing me is all I care about," she told him in tears.

He grabbed her and held her. "I believe you," he told her. Gaara was holding himself back from beating Shikamaru, and I just looked away.


	20. Kiba And Hinata?

**Temari P.O.V**

Nothing really happened for the rest of the week; until Hinata came up to me on Friday during lunch. "Can I talk to you alone?" she asked me while I was sitting with everyone.

"Um, sure Hinata, of cores," I told her getting up and following her out of the lunch room. "What is it?" I asked her when we were out of the room.

Hinata turn red. "W-well I-I," she said.

"Is this about Kiba?" I asked. She nodded. "What about him?"

"W-well y-you know I like him, a-and I was just wondering I-if you knew if he liked me back," she said.

"Well I don't know, but everyone else seems to think that he does," I told her. "If you really want to go out with him, maybe you should drop him some hints that you like him."

"L-like what?" she asked.

"I don't know. Sit by him, ask him if he wants to do something this weekend, giggle when he tells a joke," I told her.

Her eyes widened. "I-I c-can't do that," she said.

"Why not," I said.

"B-Because I-I'll g-get shy around him," she said turning even more red then she was.

"Well that might help. I mean if you are good around everyone else and shy with him then he will know something is up," I told him.

"O-Ok, I-I'll do it," she said.

"That's good, now let's go back to lunch," I said, and we went back into the lunch room.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

Temari and Hinata came back into the lunch room and sat down. Temari sat were she usually sat which was by Shikamaru, and Hinata usually sat by Temari and Tenten. But this time she went by Kiba. _That's strange. Hinata has been sitting by Temari and Tenten almost the whole year now. Why isn't she now?_ "Hinata why aren't you sitting over there, with Temari and Tenten, like you usually do a lunch?" I asked in a whisper from across the table pointing to the two girls sitting way on the other end.

"I wanted to sit here today," she told me.

"Ok, whatever then," I said getting back to the conversation Naruto, Kiba, Kankuro, Lee, and Sasuke were having.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

After Temari and Hinata came back it took a few minutes for Kiba to notice Hinata was right beside him. "Oh, hi Hinata," he said surprised.

"Oh, um h-hi K-Kiba," she said turning red.

"When did she get there?" Kiba asked me in a whisper.

"She has been there since her and Temari came back," I told him.

"Oh," he said turning slightly red. Then he turned to Hinata. "So Hinata, what made you want to sit with us today. You usually sit with the girls," Kiba said.

"W-well t-they are busy w-with their b-boyfriends," she told him turning red.

"Oh," Kiba said. "So you wanted to sit with the single people then."

"Naruto and Sasuke aren't," Gaara said smirking.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked.

"You idiot, he is calling us gay again," Sasuke told him with a sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Oh...oh, OH, hey that's mean, stop doing that!" Naruto yelled at him.

Gaara, Kiba, Hinata, Lee, and I started to laugh. Sasuke sighed, and Naruto glared at Gaara. "What?" Gaara asked. "It was just a joke."

"Well your jokes aren't very funny, you're going to get the whole school calling us gay," Sasuke told him.

"Yeah," Naruto said.

"Fine, I'll stop," Gaara told them.

"That's what you said last time," Sasuke said.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

The rest of the day Hinata sat by Kiba. But what was strange was that she would always be shy around him and not Sasuke, Naruto, or me. And she was giggling a lot. It was the end of the day, and we were in the back of Health class, at our table, when I heard Hinata whisper to Kiba. "S-So, um, w-would you m-maybe want to do something t-this w-weekend?" Hinata asked him turning red.

Kiba turned red. "Sure Hinata," he said. "Like what?"

"U-um h-hang out or m-maybe go and get something to e-eat," she told him.

"Sure Hinata, that sounds good," he said. "I'll be over at your house sometime tomorrow." And they never talked for the rest of the class.

Temari, Kankuro, Shikamaru, and I walked home. It was slightly warmer then every other day this week, and I didn't want to get into Deidara's car again. "So, did you guys know Kiba and Hinata are going on a date this week end?" I asked. Shikamaru and Kankuro looked at me and lifted an eye brow. "Yeah, she kind of asked him out, sort of."

"Really, that's great!" Temari said happily.

"Is that what you two were talking about in the hallways?" Kankuro asked.

"Yeah, she said she wanted to know if he liked her, and that she wanted to go out with him," I told them.

"Well they are going to hang out, and get something to eat," I told them.

"Well it's a start," I said.

"Well I for one know he likes her," Kankuro said. We looked at him. "Yeah, he left his jacket at our house, and it had a picture of her in it, and he told me that he liked her. But it's a good thing she told you this when she did, because that was at Halloween, and he said that he was just going to forget about her because he thought she didn't like him."

"Wait, what, he had a photo of her in his jacket?" Shikamaru asked. "Isn't that kind of being like a stalker?"

"That's what I told him, and he said there were more," Kankuro told him.

"Wow, he must really like her," Gaara said.

"Well he has liked her since we were kids," Shikamaru said. "He just was too shy to tell her."

"Kiba shy, now that's something you never see," Temari said.

"Yeah, well he is when it comes to girls," Shikamaru said as we got to his house. "Well bye." We waved good-bye and kept walking.


	21. The Story, Hinata's Date

**Temari P.O.V.**

Monday morning the worst morning of the week. _I can't wait until Friday._ I got out of bed slowly and got dressed. My head was pounding and my nose was all stuffed up. I had walked to and from my job in the cold all weekend, because Deidara was busy, and Shikamaru and his dad went to the shop earlier in the morning then me. I went to the kitchen and looked through the medicine cabinet way at the top. We had just enough cold medicine for the week; if mine lasted that long. I usually got day colds, or colds that lasted two or three days. _I'm going to have to buy more cold medicine_. I took the medicine and then went to Kankuro's room. I banged on the door. "Kankuro get up!" I yelled at him making my throat sore. I groaned and went to the living room. I fell on the couch and went back to sleep.

About an hour later I was woken up by Gaara and Kankuro. "Are you coming to school today or not?" they asked.

"Well I have to don't I? The school will call asking for parents," I told them.

"Well go eat your cereal fast, and then get your coat on," Kankuro said.

"Yeah Deidara is waiting," Gaara told me.

"What, I never called him," I said.

"When we saw you on the couch looking sick we called him ourselves. We can't have you walking to school with a cold," Kankuro told me.

"Thanks guys," I said getting up to go eat my cereal.

When I was done we went outside to Deidara's car. It was much colder than it had been on the weekend. "Wow, you do look sick," Sasori said.

"Yeah, well it's because I had to walk in the cold two and from work this weekend," I told him.

"I'm sorry for that. We had two gigs this weekend and it took us all day to set up, and then a while to take down," Deidara told me.

"And you're the only one with a car, right?" I asked.

"Well yeah, and Kisame just got one for his birthday. It was taking forever to take all our stuff everywhere in just my car," he said as we pulled up to the school.

I got to home room and sat by Shikamaru like usual. "Wow Temari, you don't look too good," he said. I looked at him. "I mean, you look sick," he said quickly.

"Yeah, I have a cold. But its ok my colds usually only last a day of two," I told him.

"Well did you at least take some medicine?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I'm going to have to buy some more," I told him. "And it's all because I never had a ride to work this weekend."

"Sorry," Shikamaru said looking to the floor.

"It's ok," I told him with a smile.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I got to class and saw Hinata and Kiba chatting away. I went over to them and sat down by Naruto. "So, how was everyone's weekends?" I asked looking at Hinata and Kiba.

"Why do you care?" Kiba asked as Hinata started blushing.

"Oh, I was just wondering. Mine was pretty boring, I sat at home the whole time," I told them.

"Well Sasuke was trying to get me to go bum beer off people all weekend," Naruto said angrily. "I had to lock the windows and doors so he couldn't sneak out by himself and do it."

"Yeah, your such a mom," Sasuke said.

"Hey! Last time you did it you got a headache and were bugging me all day, and sleeping!" Naruto yelled at him.

"You two sound like a married couple," I told them with a smirk. "You are always fighting."

"No we don't!" Naruto yelled.

"Idiot," Sasuke said.

"Anyway, what did you two do this weekend?" I asked Kiba and Hinata.

"Nothing," Kiba said. "It's none of your business." Hinata blushed.

"Oh, so you two went on a date or something then?" I asked with a smirk.

"No, it was just two friends having lunch," Kiba said. Hinata's blush grew bigger.

"And you kissed," I said.

"How the hell do you know all this?" Kiba asked angrily.

"By Hinata's blushing, and you yelling that just now," I said with a smirk.

"I hate you," Kiba said.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"I just got news that one of the popular people might switch schools next year!" Tenten told us happily.

"Well who is it?" I asked.

"I don't know, I'm not in there club anymore remember, I don't get that kind of info. I'm lucky I got that much," she told me.

"It will probably just be one of the nobodies in it that no one even notices because Ino, Shino, and Choji take all the credit," Lee said.

"Probably, but who cares? That's just one more of them gone, they are slowly falling apart," Tenten told us.

"Yeah, two of them in one year, that's a big change," I said rolling my eyes.

"Well we can't get rid of them all at once. If we did we wouldn't have anyone to pull pranks on," she said.

"That's true, and it is fun doing that," Lee said.

**Temari P.O.V.**

It was lunch time and I was starting to feel a little better. "Wow Temari, you look a whole lot better than this morning," Kankuro told me.

"See, I told you I don't get colds for long," I told him.

"I've actually never seen you sick until now," Gaara said.

"Well that's because I never wanted to get you sick, so whenever I was I tried to stay away from you," I told him.

"Well that's not fair, I've never been sick once," he told me.

"Yes you have. We all had the chickenpox when we were smaller. That's how our first school found out that we had no parents. They were calling and asking for them, and we kept saying they were gone. So they finally sent someone out to look for us," I told him.

"Oh yeah," he said.

"Well how did you get out of that?" Naruto asked wide-eyed.

"When Kankuro and I were feeling better we broke into the school and got rid of our permanent records. Then the next day we took the money I saved up, hopped on a bus, and went to the other side of our old town. Then we went and signed up again at a whole other school. Of cores they asked what school we went to before and what happened to our records. So I told them that we forgot the name, and that they lost them. Of cores they called the house asking for our parents. So this time I got the neighbour to pose as our mom by telling her that our real ones were out of town trying to get work, and that getting into school would mean lots to them. And since we were living in a trailer park at the time they said ok, because they knew what it was like to be poor and understood that our parents needed to find a job to support us. Then of cores when she realized that our parents never came back after half the year she wanted to adopt us. But we told her no, so she called the people to come get us and told them that we were three underage kids living alone in a rundown trailer in the trailer park. So we ran away, hopped on a train and a few busses, and ended up here," I told them. Everyone at our table looked at me, Gaara, and Kankuro stunned.

"Well how did you afford the house you're in then?" Kiba asked.

"I had lots of money saved up, and our mom and dad gave us everything they had in their will. We had just enough money to buy the house and nothing else. We got our couch in the living room from the neighbours who threw it away because they bought a bigger one. And our beds are just one mattress each that we got for really cheap at a store that was having a sale and we bought the cheapest ones. My fans were all form our parents, and my own money, Kankuro's dolls are all from our parents, and all that sand in Gaara's room was from his collection and some of it he took from some store on the edge of town. And we don't have big bills because we never use anything," I told him.

"So you are basically just living according to how much money you are getting at my parents shop," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, but I can buy everything cheap at your shop. Plus I have a discount, so that's even cheaper," I told him.

"So we aren't paying you lots, you are just using your discount on everything," he said.

"Yeah, I don't get paid much at all," I told him.

Halfway through lunch I went over to Hinata. "Can I talk to you?" I asked. Hinata got up and followed me out of the lunch room. "So, how was it? Tell me everything!"

"Well Kiba came and picked me up for lunch. He took me to this really nice place, and I told him he didn't have to but he insisted. And we ordered and had a really good time. Then instead of walking me home he took me for a walk in the park," she told me.

"Really, I didn't think he was that kind of guy," I said.

"I didn't either, but he did. We walked around it and then sat on one of the benches. Then he got all shy, I was shocked so I asked him why. He told me that he really liked me and stuff and said that he was scared I didn't like him back. So I told him that I wouldn't suggest we do something this weekend if I didn't like him. And then he s-smiled a-and k-kissed m-me," she told me turning red.

"Aw, that's so sweet. So you guys going to go out again anytime soon?" I asked.

"I-I don't k-know, maybe t-this w-weekend," she said.

"Well if you do you have to tell me all about it again," I told her. "And then maybe after you go on a few dates Shikamaru and I can double date with you!"

"T-That sounds l-like fun," she said with a smile.

"Then it's a date! Whenever you feel ready to double date tell me, and I'll get Shikamaru to get his dad to let us off early that day and we can go!" I told her.

"O-Ok," she said, and we went back into the lunch room.


	22. Double data, Itachi!

**Temari P.O.V**

It was a month before Hinata came to me to ask to double date Shikamaru and me. Nothing really happened that month except it got a lot warmer and the snow was melted. It was now February and there were only a few months of school left. "Hey Temari," Hinata said coming up to me after school on a Friday. "Can you and Shikamaru go with Kiba and me somewhere this weekend?"

"Sure Hinata, this is a great time. We have tomorrow off!" I told her happily. She smiled.

"Ok, I'll tell Kiba. Where are we going to go?" she asked.

"Make the boys fight over it," I said smirking. "It might be fun to watch." Hinata nodded and left to go find Kiba.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

When I woke up the next morning I found Kankuro and Temari making breakfast. "Don't you have to work?" I asked Temari.

"No, the store is closed today; although I don't know why. Shikamaru's dad might have just wanted a brake," she told me.

"So why are you making such a big breakfast?" I asked.

"So you and Kankuro aren't too hungry for lunch or supper, because I won't be here to make any of it," she told me.

"Why?" I asked sternly.

"Hinata, Kiba, Shika, and I are double dating today," she told me. "Hinata said they were fighting over where to go so much that they decided Kiba chooses were to go for lunch and Shika chooses supper."

"Ok, as long as you are with someone else too," I told her.

"What's that suppose to mean?" she asked angrily.

"Ok, who wants pancakes?" Kankuro interrupted in time. We sat down to eat.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

When Temari left a few hours later I turned to Gaara. "So, what are you doing today?" I asked.

"I don't know, go to Naruto's or something," he told me.

"Ok, I'll just clean up the house then," I told him.

"Clean the house? There is never anything to clean," he told me.

"You don't think there is, but that's because you have never cleaned the house before. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there," I told him.

"Fine, whatever, I still think you're crazy if you think it's dirty," he said putting on his coat and going to the front door.

"Well you can think what you want, but in the end I am the one keeping the house clean, not you," I told him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" he yelled to me as he closed the front door.

I looked around the house. Gaara was right there really wasn't anything to clean. It looked as if everything was cleaned the night before._ Temari probably did it. I know she couldn't sleep last night, and when she can't sleep, she cleans._ I sighed. I no longer had anything to do for the day. _I guess I'll go for a walk then._ I got on the coat and left out the front door.

After about an hour of walking in circles people started to get suspicious of me, so I started walking towards the school. All Temari's, Gaara's, and my friends lived on the other side of the school; except for Shikamaru. I walked past the school; I was bound to find someone I knew. About a block away from the school I bumped into someone turning the corner. We both fell to the ground "Watch it!" the person yelled with their girl's voice.

"Are you ok Ino?" someone asked in a boy's voice. I looked up and saw Ino, Choji, and Shino.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just infected by this none popular!" she yelled.

"Sorry to you too," I said getting up and rolling my eyes. Ino got up, and the two boys glared at me. I sighed and started to walk around them.

"And where are you going?" Ino asked with Choji sticking an arm out to stop me.

"None of your business," I told her.

"Well I want to know," she said.

"Well you don't need to know," I told her. Then I whispered so only Choji could hear. "Shikamaru really misses you as a friend," I told him. He froze and let his guard down enough for me to get around him and run for it.

"Hey, get back here!" Ino yelled after me.

"Hey Choji," I said turning my head to look at him as I ran. "I didn't say that to just get away, it's true!" I yelled to him. Then I face forward again, and as I ran all I could hear was Ino yelling at Choji for letting me go.

**Temari P.O.V.**

Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru, and I walked down the road to the park. It was a little windy out, so it was kind of cold. "So what, are we going to have a picnic or something?" I asked Kiba.

"Well seeing as we have no food with us, no. But we don't need lunch we can just sit in the park," he said.

"Your just doing this so everyone is really hunger for supper, aren't you?" Shikamaru asked.

"Maybe," Kiba said.

Shikamaru sighed. "I'm picking were we go for supper, not paying for it all you idiot. If that's what you thought was happening," he told him.

"No, that's not what I thought!" Kiba yelled embarrassed. We laughed at him. "Let's go to the place across the street to eat," he said crossing his arms and walking ahead.

"Kiba wait up!" Hinata yelled going after him.

"He so though I was paying for everyone's supper," Shikamaru said with a sigh. I laughed and we went to catch up with Hinata and Kiba.

After we ate lunch we went and sat in the park. "Well it wasn't what I was expecting for lunch," I said.

"What, going to a noodle house?" Shikamaru asked.

"I kind of liked it," Hinata said.

Kiba sighed. "It was ok," he said leading us to the shade of a tree. We sat down on the grass and looked out at the pond.

"It's so nice here," I said. "I never even knew about it until now."

"Yeah, this town has lots. You just have to look for what you want," Shikamaru told me lying down.

Hinata put her head on Kiba's shoulder. "It's nice to come here and just look out at the pond," she said.

Kiba put his arm around her. "Yeah," he said.

I sighed. "What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked.

"Nothing," I said looking at Hinata and Kiba, then back at the pond. Shikamaru took his gaze from the clouds and looked at Hinata and Kiba like I did.

"I'm not sitting up, I like looking at the clouds," he told me.

I frowned at him. "Fine," I said lying down beside him.

"I'm cold," I heard Hinata tell Kiba.

"Well come closer then," Kiba told her. I looked over and saw Hinata blushing.

"Ok," she said. I sighed again. Shikamaru looked at Hinata and Kiba, then to me.

"What do you want from me?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said putting my hands behind my head to use as a pillow. He sighed and rolled over so he was over top of me. He had his hands by my head, and his face was a little ways above mine.

"Seriously, what do you want from me?" he asked, as Hinata and Kiba looked at us. I turned really red and looked away from him.

"Nothing," I said again.

"Are you sure?" he asked ignoring my blush. "You don't seem happy."

"Can you please get off me?" I asked, butterflies racing through my stomach. "It's giving me a funny feeling." He sighed, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and did as I said, and then went back to looking at the clouds.

We stayed at the park for a few hours, until we started to get too cold. "Let's go to the mall," I suggested. "I haven't been there yet; the only store I've been to is Shikamaru's parents, and this really small one."

"Are you serious? I don't want to go shopping," Kiba whined.

"Come on, at least we will get out of the cold," Shikamaru told him.

"I'm not going and that's that," he said. But Hinata whispered something in his ear, and he instantly turned red and changed his mind. So I got Hinata to walk with me, and the boys in front, to the mall so I could find out what she said to him.

"I just told him that we can go to a cretin store," she told me.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like a girls' underwear store," she said blushing. My eyes went wide.

"Why would you tell him that?" I asked.

"Because it's the only way he would go," she said.

"Are you seriously going to go in one with him?" I asked.

"Only if there is time," she laughed. "But I know there won't be."

"And how are you so sure about that?" I asked.

"Because we are going to go into ever store we see and avoid it," she said with a smile.

"Well ok then," I said as we got to the mall.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I walked the streets looking at the houses. I was trying to remember witch one was Neji and Hinata's. When I finally found it I rang the bell. Hinata's dad answered. "Hello, is Neji home?" I asked. Mr. Hyuga shook his head.

"No, Neji, Lee, and Tenten had a tournament today," he said. "Hinata's is tomorrow. Now, may I ask who is looking for him?"

"I'm Kankuro, and I'm just a friend from school," I told him.

"Ah yes, I remember you coming here with the rest of them to ask if he can go to your Halloween party," he said. "Well I'll tell him you came by." And with that he closed the door.

With Neji, Lee, and Tenten all out at a tournament I had no one else to be with. So I headed for home. But instead of taking the way I took to get here I took a longer on, so I wouldn't run into Ino, Choji, and Shino again.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I got to Naruto's and knocked on the door. There was no answer. So I knocked again, but louder. "I'm coming!" I heard Naruto yell form inside. He opened the door and looked at me. "Hello Gaara, it's nice to see you. What are you doing here?" he asked letting me in.

"Well Temari is on her date with Shikamaru, Kiba, and Hinata. And she did all the stuff that needed to be done around the house last night. So there wasn't really anything for me to do at home, so I came here," I told him.

"Oh," Naruto said. "Well come in them." I walked into the house.

"So where is Sasuke?" I asked.

"In his room with his music blasting on his MP3," he told me.

"He has an MP3?" I asked.

"Well it's Itachi's. He took it to listen to music in class one day and never gave it back. Itachi thought he lost it himself though so he just bought a new one," Naruto told me.

"Why is he in there doing that anyways?" I asked.

"I don't know, maybe he is bored, maybe he is depressed. You can never tell with him," Naruto said with a sigh.

I walked over to Sasuke's bedroom door and knocked on it really loud and hard. He didn't answer so I did it a few more times. "I said I wanted to be alone for a while Naruto!" he yelled.

"It's not Naruto, its Gaara!" I yelled back. Sasuke opened the door.

"Well then I guess I have a resin to come out then," he said coming out and closing his door behind him. "So what brings you here?" he asked.

"Nothing really, just got bored," I said.

"Well let's go find something to do then," he said. "I'm bored too."

"If you were bored you could have told me Sasuke, I would have done something with you," Naruto told him.

"No, you get boring now fast since I see you all the time," he told him. "The same things I could do with you would be more with someone else that I don't see all the time."

Naruto frowned. "Fine," he said as we went to the front door. "Let's go for a walk or something."

"Sure," I said. Sasuke just shrugged and put on his shoes.

**Temari P.O.V.**

Shikamaru sighed. "What is there to do here?" he asked as we walked in.

"Absolutely nothing," Kiba said angrily.

"Oh come on, just because we have no money we could use here doesn't mean we can't have fun," I said.

"Yeah, you guys can watch us try on clothes," Hinata said. Kiba started to blush.

"Fine," Shikamaru said fallowing us into a store.

We tried on different types of clothes in each store. In the first store I tried on a black shirt with short sleeves and a fancy silver design on it, and a short black skirt. Hinata tried on some black jeans and a white shirt with a gray hoodie over top. "This is the first time I've worn a skirt since the beginning of the year," I said. "It doesn't really feel comfortable anymore."

"You look good in it though," Shikamaru said.

"Why, because you get to look at my legs for the first time since we met?" I asked jokingly.

"No, just that shirt and that skirt together is kind of your style," he said blushing. I laughed and Hinata and I changed, and we left to a different store.

In the next store we went to it had all girly things. I sighed and Hinata and I went in. I came out of the change room in a pink tank top with lace on the bottom and a pink lacy skirt. Hinata had on a short pink dress that hugged in all the right places, and also had lace at the bottom. Shikamaru and Kiba looked away from us. "What's wrong?" Hinata asked.

"Too much pink," Shikamaru said.

"It reminds me of that stupid Sakura!" Kiba yelled. Hinata and I laughed.

"Well we said we were going to try different things," I said.

"Just go change," Kiba said. So Hinata and I changed, and we left to a different store.

In the next one we went to I put on a long sleeved shirt with straps and skulls on it and some leather pants with buckles on them. Were Hinata tried on a hoodie with a red tartan skull and a black skirt with red lace. "You guys look Goth," Kiba said.

"Well duh, we're in a Gothic store if you haven't noticed," I told him rolling my eyes.

"Oh," he said. "Ok then."

The store after that was a dress store. I put on a long black dress with sparkles on it, and Hinata put on a red dress that went to her knees and had no straps or sleeves to hold it up. The boys just looked at us wide eyed. "You girls look really good," Shikamaru said.

"Really, because I don't like dresses, I never thought I had the body for one," I told him.

"Yeah, same with me," Hinata said.

"Well you don't have to worry about that. You two are hot," Kiba told us happily. Hinata blushed, and I rolled my eyes. Then we went back and changed. The rest of the stores were basically the same. The only difference was some had different sizes, colors, or prices, and there were maybe a few new things here and there.

It was close to supper now and we had gone to almost every store in the mall. There was almost no one in the mall now because they were all heading out to dinner. Kiba whispered something in Hinata's ear and she sighed. "Fine," she said. "You're such a pig though." Then she turned to me. "Well I can't avoid it now, you coming?" she asked me.

"No, Shikamaru is already a big pervert. I don't want him to get anymore perverted," I told her. Shikamaru looked at me confused.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"You know," I told him.

"Well why would you say that? Where are they going?" Shikamaru asked.

"No were," I told him.

"The why aren't we going?" he asked.

"Because," I said getting annoyed.

"Well Kiba and I better go before it gets too late," Hinata said. "We can meet at the doors we came in at."

"I still want to know where you are going," Shikamaru said getting annoyed too. Kiba sighed and went and whispered something in Shika's ear. Shikamaru's face turned red. "Oh," he said as Kiba and Hinata walked away.

Shikamaru and I started to walk in the other detraction that Hinata and Kiba were going. "You probably want to go there badly now, don't you?" I asked.

"Not really," he said putting his hands behind his head. "I can't believe Hinata is dating Kiba when he makes her do things like that for him."

"Yeah I know, guys are pigs," I said.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

I sighed. "You and my belt on my robe," I said.

"Oh yeah," he said blushing. "I said I was sorry for that though."

"It's doesn't matter, you still did it," I told him.

He sighed. "Whatever," he said.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"So were exactly are we going?" I asked.

"I don't know, around," Sasuke said.

"Ok," I said.

"What if we meet up with Itachi or someone?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, is that why you don't like me leaving the house, because I might run into him?" Sasuke asked.

"Maybe," Naruto said.

"Well stop worrying about it, there is a very low chance we will," he told him.

We walked around the part of the town by Naruto's house for a few hours. Then we started to head back. "Let's go this way, it's a short cut," Naruto told us. Sasuke shook his head.

"That's the area Itachi lives," he told him.

"Well we can go through fast," Naruto said.

Sasuke sighed. "Fine," he said, and we headed in.

When we got half way through Sasuke pointed out a house someone was coming out of. "Oh crap, it's Itachi," he said.

"What do we do?" Naruto asked.

"Let's just walk by on the other side of the street with Sasuke in the middle of us, hopefully he won't see him," I said. So we did. But as we went by Itachi turned and saw us.

"Sasuke?" he asked.

"Oh crap, run," Sasuke whispered to us. We started running down the street.

"Get back here you little brat!" Itachi yelled. "I will get you and your friends!" I turned back and saw Itachi get in his car and start it.

"He is going to chase us in the car," I told them.

"Well we will cut through all the places cars can't go. Follow me," Naruto told us. "We just need to get to the end for the street." We continued running, but Itachi caught up in his car.

"Sasuke you better stop and get in the car!" Itachi yelled at him through the window.

"Why, so you can take me home and beat me some more?" he asked.

"I swear I won't do it anymore!" he told him.

"We won't let you take him!" Naruto yelled, and we turned a corner. And before Itachi could turn it too he drove by. "Now we just have to get to the end of this one and cut through that school yard," Naruto told us.

"And what if he leaves the car and fallows us?" I asked.

"Then we will run faster, and take lots of turns and jump over into some yards," he told me.

"I knew we shouldn't have come this way," Sasuke said. "He will find out where you live now. And he will probably beat up Kankuro for lying about not knowing where I was now."

"Don't worry about it, he won't be able to get Kankuro," I told him.

Soon we were at the school yard. It was a yard for an elementary school. I looked over to the front of the school as we ran by and saw Itachi get out of his car. "He got here first," I told Naruto and Sasuke. Itachi started running after us.

"Get back here!" Itachi yelled.

"Through the trees up here," he said pointing to the big group of trees just off the school yard. We ran and went into them. "Fallow close," Naruto told us slowing the pace a little so no one would get hurt.

"How do you know how to get through here?" I asked as he led us to a small field in the middle of the trees.

"Well we went to elementary here," Naruto said. "And while everyone was getting good grades and everything I was skipping school with Kiba and Shikamaru. We would come to hide in here until they stopped looking for us, and then we would sneak in here," he said pointing to a place where we had to get down and crawl to get through. "And then we would go to the end, and walk through this small path. It leads to about two blocks away from my house, and I was going to take you guys through here anyways." We walked down the small path and then to Naruto's house.

"Naruto you're a life saver," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, well I guess skipping school so many times paid off," Naruto said rubbing the back of his head smiling.

"Well thank you," Sasuke said giving Naruto a little hug, and then opened the door to Naruto's house and went in.

Naruto was just standing there. "Did he just hug me?" he asked.

"I think so," I said.

"Wow, ok then," Naruto said. "That's a little weird."

"Oh well, I wouldn't say anything about it, he might get mad," I told him.

"Yeah I guess. I'll just keep it to myself then seeing as it will wreck his rep and all," Naruto told me laughing, and we went into the house.

**Temari P.O.V.**

We met with Kiba and Hinata a few minutes later. "So how was it?" I asked Hinata in a whisper as we left the mall and headed down the road.

Hinata laughed. "We went in for a little while and then left to get something to drink. The lady was looking at Kiba funny and thought he was a pervert. She didn't even really want to let him in the store," she told me.

"Well that's good then, is he mad?" I asked.

"No, he said he didn't really want to go anyways. The sound of girls' underwear just makes him blush. He told me that he said that he would come to the mall because he wanted to start walking up ahead so you guys didn't see him blush, not because for that store," she told me.

"Oh really, Shikamaru and I thought he was a real pig," I told her.

"I did too, but it turns out that's not what he meant or wanted at all," she told me.

"Well what did he whisper to you then?" I asked.

"All he said was, "let's go," and I thought he meant for that. But it turns out he wanted to go for a drink," she told me.

"Well then what did he tell Shikamaru?" I asked.

"Well he told him that we were going to the underwear place. But he told him that so that we could be alone for a bit, because he knew he wouldn't want to ask you to go there with him," she told me.

"Well if you guys wanted some time alone you could have told us. You didn't have to go through all that," I told her.

"Yeah, I guess," she said.

"Hey, what are you girl whispering about back there?" Kiba asked.

"Oh, nothing," I said.

"Sure," Kiba said rolling his eyes.

"Oh leave them alone, they can talk about whatever they want," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah, but I just get cereus easily you know," he told him. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

We walked down the street for a few minutes. "Where are we going for supper?" I asked finally.

"You'll see, it's just up here," he told me. We crossed the street at the corner, and went down another block. We stopped in front of a restaurant. "Well here we are," he said.

"It looks expensive," I said.

"I can't afford a place like this!" Kiba yelled.

"Don't worry Lee's mom owns it. She said we could come here and practically eat for free," Shikamaru told us.

"I didn't know Lee's mom own a restaurant," Hinata said as we walked in.

We went and waited in the front, there was no one letting people in yet, and it looked like they were just setting up. Lee's mom came from the back carrying a stack of menus. She put them in the podium and then looked up at us. "Ah, Shikamaru your here already?" she asked. He nodded. "Ok, well I guess I can seat you. We weren't really ready because usually people don't come for another hour," she told him.

"That's ok, we can wait," he said.

"No no, I'll seat you and then you order and we will get you what you want. It will just take a little while longer then it usually would," she told him grabbing some four menus and showing us to a table. I looked at the food they had. It was all chilly and curry.

"What in the world is The Curry of Life?" I asked.

"I wouldn't order it if I were you," Kiba told me.

"Yeah that stuff is kind of really hot," Shikamaru said. I looked at them and raised an eyebrow.

"Trust them," Hinata said. "You don't want to try it."

"How do you know it's that bad?" I asked.

"Oh no, it's not bad, it's just really hot," Hinata said.

"Yeah the only person I saw that could stand it was Lee. It's very good though," Kiba said.

"Have you guys tried it?" I asked.

"No, but Naruto did. He said it was really good, and then his face turned red and he passed out," Shikamaru told me. My eyes went wide.

"Well I'm not getting that then, just encase," I said.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I had supper at Naruto's house. It wasn't much, just some sandwiches. "Do you always eat this much, there is hardly anything here," I said.

"Well seeing as we have no money, yeah we do," Sasuke said. "At least at Itachi's I got fed."

"Well then maybe we should have tripped you and let him take you then if you miss him so much," Naruto said.

Sasuke sighed. "I don't miss him at all. I just wish we had food," he said.

"Well if we did then you would be a big pig and eat it all," Naruto said.

"Me? You would eat it all," Sasuke said.

"Guys will you shut up, I'm sure you would eat the same amount!" I yelled at them.

"Are you calling us pigs?" Naruto asked,

"I don't know why don't, you decide what you are," I said. Naruto looked at me confused.

"Now you are just trying to play mind games with us," Sasuke said annoyed.

"Whatever," I said. "I need to go before Kankuro starts worrying," I said rolling my eyes. "I'll see you guys later." Naruto and Sasuke said goodbye, and I headed home.

**Temari P.O.V.**

"That was a great supper," Hinata said. "Thanks for choosing this place."

"It's wasn't that good," Kiba said as we started walking home.

"You're just jealous because the place you picked for lunch wasn't as good," I said with a smirk. Kiba glared at me.

"Well it doesn't matter as long as we all had fun," Shikamaru said.

We were getting close to home now and it was getting cold. "Well Hinata and I are going to cut through here," Kiba said. "It's a faster way to her house."

"All right," I said. "We had a great time with you two."

"We had a great time too," Hinata said.

"Maybe next time we should invite Neji and Tenten," Shikamaru suggested.

"Sure, I guess we could. Well goodbye," Kiba said as him and Hinata went through a small path in-between two houses.

Soon we were at my house. Shikamaru walked with me to the door. "Well goodbye Temari, I had a great time today," he said giving me a kiss on the cheek.

I blushed. "You're going to walk home this late at night in the cold?" I asked.

"Well I have to, there is no other way for me to get home," he said.

"You could stay the night here," I said.

"No I should really get home," he said. "I have to get up for work."

"Well I do too can't your parents come pick us up here?" I asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "Stop trying to get me in your house," he said.

"No it's not that I just-"I was cut off by his lips on mine. He pulled away.

"I'll be fine," he told me. "Goodbye."

"Bye," I said. Then I opened the door and went into the house.


	23. Fun with Science, Jealousy

**Gaara P.O.V.**

It was Monday and Kiba, Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, and I were heading to lunch. We were late getting there because we got in trouble in Science class. We did yet another experiment, and once again it had gone "wrong". Kiba was busy chatting away with Naruto about his date with Hinata, and Sasuke, Hinata, and I were left doing the experiment alone. "We should do something to get them to help. It's not fair that they are going to get marks and they never even did anything," Sasuke said.

"It's ok, I'm sure they will come help soon," Hinata told him.

I sighed. "Why don't we just cut this experiment short?" I asked.

"You don't mean," Sasuke said. I nodded.

The chemicals we were using were grade 12 ones again. Our teacher Kakashi let us use them again because nothing went wrong in the lower experiments we did. But of cores the things we were using couldn't really do anything. Sasuke grabbed one test tube full of something and I grabbed the other. We weren't exactly told what was in them, just not to put them together. "You're not really going to do that, are you?" Hinata asked. Sasuke and I nodded. "But you can get in trouble," she told us.

"It doesn't matter. I'm getting bored of this experiment. We need something big to happen for a little fun," I told her.

"You better stand back, we don't know what's going to happen," Sasuke said grinning. Hinata backed away to where Kiba and Naruto were.

"Oh, Hinata what's wrong?" Kiba asked. She pointed to me and Sasuke.

"Hey, what are you two doing?" Naruto asked looking over at us. "Stop it!" But it was too late. Sasuke had poured the stuff in his test tube, into my test tube. It started to shake and get hot. I let go and it fell to the floor. Sasuke and I backed away as it exploded.

Everyone screamed and ran for the door. Sasuke and I just walked to it laughing. When everyone was out the teacher looked at us. "Naruto, Hinata, Kiba, Sasuke, Gaara! I told you not to mix those two!" he yelled at us.

"Well you said not to, but you never said what would happen. We got curios," I told him.

"So, I told you not to and you did it! Just because I never told you what would happen doesn't mean you can try it out! You five are staying here and cleaning up, and you don't get to go to lunch until it's clean! I'll clean up the mess in your area because it's dangerous, but you have to 

clean the rest of the classes mess!" He yelled at us. "Now everyone else can go early. Hinata, Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, get back in the class and clean!"

As everyone started to leave Ino, Chouji, and Shino turned to us. "You're really in trouble now," Ino said laughing.

"So, it was fun," I told her smirking.

"Hinata, I'm disappointed. These boys have changed you in a bad way," Shino told him.

"B-But I d-didn't do it. I-I tried t-to stop them," she told him.

"A likely story," he said following Ino and Chouji to lunch.

"Don't let them get to you Hinata. They are just jealous because if they tried to pull a stunt like that their rep would go down the drain," Kiba told her. Hinata nodded and the five of us headed back into the science lab.

We got into the lunch room and sat down. "And where have you been?" Tenten, Neji, Temari, Kankuro, Lee, and Shikamaru asked. The five of us burst out laughing.

"We get in trouble for almost blowing up the science lab is all," I told them. They glared at us.

"Well it was really just Gaara and I. Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata stayed back and watched," Sasuke said.

"I tried to stop them," Hinata told the group.

"It's ok Hinata, They don't listen to people very well," Temari told her.

"Naruto and Kiba would have been in on it too, if they weren't busy talking about your double date," I told her.

"Hey, I want to hear about the date too," Tenten said. So Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Temari told everyone what happened that day.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

The lunch bell rang and Lee, Tenten, Neji, and I headed to class. We had to leave early because it was Math which was all the way on the other side of the school from the lunch 

room. As we walked down the hallway Itachi and Kisame came up to us. "Where are Naruto, Gaara, and my ungrateful little brother?" Itachi asked angrily.

"I don't know I'm not in the same class as them. So I have no idea where they went," I told him.

"You're one of the only people I can't tell is lying or not," he said. "But I know you lied about not knowing where Sasuke is living now. He is living with Naruto now, and you know where that is."

"Actually only Gaara knows where it is, and you will have a hard time getting it out of him," I told him. Itachi glared at me.

"You make things very difficult and frustrating for me. I don't like that," he told me.

"Excuse me, but if we don't finish up here soon we are all going to be late for class," Neji said.

"Come on Kisame," Itachi said giving Neji a dirty look, and walked away.

We got to class just in time. "What was that all about with Itachi?" Lee asked.

"Oh, probably about the thing that happened this weekend," I told him.

"Why, what happened?" Tenten asked. I told them what Gaara told me about Itachi chasing them while they were on their way back to Naruto house after a walk. "That's horrible," Tenten said.

"At least they go away," Neji said.

"Yeah, but Itachi will be looking for them now. And it's just to bonus for him that we all go to the same school," I said with a sigh.

"We miss everything when we have a tournament," Lee said. I laughed.

**Temari P.O.V.**

It was gym class, and we were done dance. But we were still with the other grades. Since it was warm today, and nice out, we got to go outside. The teacher said that since we did such a good job in our dance unit that we could take this class for a brake to finish homework or relax. Shikamaru and I went and sat under a tree for shade to do some homework. It only took a few minutes, so when we were done we just lied down and looked at the clouds.

After only a few secants of laying there Deidara came over to us. "Hey guys," he said sitting down next to me.

"What do you want?" Shikamaru asked.

"I came to tell Temari that Itachi is really mad, and is looking for Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke," he said.

"Why would he be looking for them?" I asked looking up at him.

"Something about this weekend," he told me. "I really don't know." I looked at him for a few secants thinking.

"Oh, I know what it's about. Gaara told me all about it," I said.

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked still annoyed that Deidara was there. I told them the things Gaara had told me and Kankuro the night before.

"Well I guess that would explain it," Deidara said looking down at me again. I now had my head resting on one of his knees and Shikamaru was really mad.

"Any other reason you are over here?" Shikamaru asked trying to hold in his anger.

"Not really, I just wanted to see Temari," he said teasing Shikamaru.

"Well you can leave now, I'm sure your friends are waiting," he said.

"Nah, they are just talking about band stuff. I'm the singer I don't really need to listen, just need to memorise the songs," he said.

"I said you can leave now," Shikamaru said glaring at Deidara now. I sat up and looked at him.

"Shikamaru stop it, he isn't doing anything to hurt anyone," I told him. "Besides, I haven't seen him in a while." Shikamaru gave Deidara a dirty look and rolled onto his side so he wouldn't have to look at him. "Come one, stop it. Why can't you two be friends?" I asked.

"He is just mad because he thinks I'm going to steel you away from him," Deidara said smirking.

"You wouldn't do that," I said.

"Maybe I would," he told me wrapping his arms around me. "What are you going to do now?" he asked.

"Come on let go of me. Shikamaru is already mad enough at you," I told him blushing. Deidara laughed and took one of his hands away to play with my hair. Shikamaru turned to look at us now.

"Stop it, let go of her," he told Deidara.

"What, it's just a little fun. There is no harm in it," Deidara told him. Shikamaru came over to us.

"Let go of her!" he yelled. I tilted my head back and looked at Deidara's face.

"Please let go," I said sweetly.

Deidara sighed. "Fine, but only because you asked so nicely, unlike your boyfriend," he said standing up. "Well I'm going to go back to my friends now. I'll see you two later," he said walking away.

"I really don't like that guy," Shikamaru said as we got out of the gym and started to walk to our next class.

"Stop being so jealous," I told him.

"I wouldn't be jealous if he wasn't all over you," he told me.

"Well you could be all over me too if you wanted, and you know that, but you're too scared to do anything like that," I said.

"I'm not scared. I just know when to draw the line," he said.

"Yeah, because you really knew when to draw the line last time you stayed over at my house," I told him.

"I said I was sorry for that, how many times do I have to say it?" he asked angrily.

"Relax, I was just kidding around," I said with a sigh. "If it makes you feel any better than we can go do something this weekend, just the two of us."

"You sure Deidara won't pop out of nowhere and bug us?" he asked.

"Oh now you're just being paranoid," I laughed as we got to the class room.


	24. The Date

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

It was the weekend again, and I had a whole lot of homework. Lee, Tenten, and Neji were at a tournament again though, so at least I had something to do. I got up early and hit the books because I couldn't sleep. After I was about halfway done my science lab thing I had to finish, Temari walked in. "What are you doing up so early?" she asked.

"Couldn't sleep, so I decided to do homework," I told her.

"I wish Gaara would do that. He never does homework," she sighed. "I'm worry he will fail school."

"Oh I'm sure he does do his homework. If he didn't the school would have been phoning asking to talk to parents about it," I reassured her. "He may always be getting into trouble, but he is good when it comes to homework and tests"

"I guess," she said, getting herself some cereal and sitting down at the table.

"So what are you doing up? It's the weekend and you have the day off work again. I thought you'd be sleeping," I said.

"I have a date with Shikamaru," she said.

"You just had one last weekend though," I said.

"That was with Hinata and Kiba too, this one is just the two of us. And besides I'm going to be going on lots of dates with him so you better get used to it," she told me finishing her cereal and putting the bowl in the sink.

"I don't really care how many dates you have with him. It's just that you see him all the time. I though you would be sick of him by now," I told her. She gave me a weird look and walked out of the room.

"I'll have my cell on if you need me, I guess," she said and I heard the front door close.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I got up and went into the kitchen. Kankuro was sitting at the table doing homework. "Where's Temari?" I asked.

"Date," Kankuro said without looking up from his work. I sighed and grabbed some cereal. I sat down at the table with the box and started eating out of it. "Wouldn't you like a bowl or something?" Kankuro asked.

"Nah, this is fine. I don't use milk in it anyways," I told him. He shook his head and went back to his work. "So why are you doing that so early in the morning anyways?" I asked.

"It's twelve o'clock, it's lunch time," he told me. "You slept all morning; it's not early at all."

"It's early for me," I told him putting the cereal back. Kankuro just sighed.

"You should start your homework too," he said.

"Come on, it's too early to start homework," I complained.

"Well you need to get it done," Kankuro said.

"I will, eventually," I told him. "I always do."

"Fine, whatever," he said and went back to his work.

I went back to my room and sat on my bed. I really had nothing to do this weekend. I could go to Naruto and Sasuke's house, but I would be bored there too. And after what happened last weekend it wasn't really safe to go out anywhere; just in case Itachi happened to be around. I sighed and laid back on my bed, it was going to be a long day. _I should do my homework then I would at least have something to do._ I shook my head. _I'm starting to sound like Kankuro. He does homework for fun all the time. Besides, I wouldn't know where to start._ I sat up and looked around my room. I sat there for a few minutes before deciding._ I'm going to have to do it anyways, might as well get it done._ I grabbed my backpack from the side of my bed where I kept it and pulled out my books.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I walked to Shikamaru's house and knocked on the door. I waited for a few secants until Shikamaru's mom answered. "Hey, is Shikamaru home?" I asked.

"Yeah, he is just sleeping. I can't seem to wake him either. Why don't you come in and try?" she asked. I nodded and she showed me in. "His room is just up the stairs and to the left. It's the first door," she told me. I nodded again and went up the stairs. It was the first time I had actually been in Shikamaru's house; innless you count standing inside the front door as in. I made my way up the stairs and to his room. The door was shut, but I turned the handle and opened it.

It was a large room with lots of shelves with books on them. Shikamaru's bed was in the middle of the room, and on one wall he had a desk with a bunch of papers and books on it. I went over to his bed and he was lying there motionless. I would have thought he was dead if I hadn't seen him breathing. I shook him and he never did anything. So I kneeled down and whispered in his ear. "If you don't get up right now I'm going to dump you," I told him. His eyes popped open and he looked at me. My face was only a few inches away from his. He jumped back and fell off the other side of his bed. I stood up and laughed.

"What was that for, you scared me, and who let you in here anyways?" he asked getting up and rubbing the back of his head.

"Well you wouldn't get up and we have a date. I had to do something. And your mom let me in, she told me to wake you," I told him still laughing. He frowned. "You're a really deep sleeper," I told him.

"So I've heard," he said, rapping a blanket around himself.

"What's with the blanket?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said blushing. "Leave my room so I can get dressed."

"Oh I get you. You don't want me to see you in your underwear," I said giggling. He blushed more.

"Just get out," he said pushing me towards the door.

"Alright, alright, I'm going, I'm going," I said as he closed the door behind me.

I went down stairs and stood at the front door. "Did you get him up?" Mrs. Nara asked when she came over and saw me standing there.

"Yeah, he is coming," I told her with a smile. She smiled back and went off towards the kitchen.

Shikamaru came down a few secants later fully dressed. "Wow, that was fast," I told him.

"Yeah, well I'm not a girl. I don't take hours on end to get ready," he said putting on his shoes.

"Excuse me, I'm a girl and it doesn't take me hours to get ready!" I yelled at him.

"I didn't mean it like that," he told me with a sigh. I turned my back to him and opened the door front door.

"Whatever, let's just go," I told him walking out the door.

We walked down the road in a random direction. "So where are you going to take me anyways?" I asked him.

"I don't know, were do you want to go?" he asked.

"I don't know, were do you want to go?" I asked sticking my tongue out at him. He sighed and I laughed. "It really doesn't matter to me," I told him.

"Want to go to the park again then?" he asked. "I liked it there, it was relaxing."

"Sure," I said. "I liked it there too." And we started heading towards the park.

When we got there we found a spot under and tree and sat down. I looked around. It was really nice. Shikamaru lied down and sighed. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said.

"Are you copying me from last time we came here?" I asked a little annoyed.

"Maybe," he said with a smile.

"Then I'm going to copy you," I said going over him like he did to me the weekend before. He started to blush and looked away from me. I laughed, got off him, and lied down by him.

"Hey, I didn't laugh," he said still red.

"Whatever," I said still laughing.

We laid there for a few minutes just looking up at the clouds. "So, you still scared Deidara is going to jump out of a bush and beat you up, then steel me away?" I asked.

"I didn't say anything about him jumping out of a bush and doing that," he said lazily. "And I think we are safe if he hasn't come yet." I laughed sitting up, and looked out over the park.

"Well I think you just jinxed it saying that, because he is right over there," I told him pointing off in the distance. Shikamaru sat up and frowned.

"Maybe he won't see us," he said with I sigh.

"Look you jinxed it again, now he is walking over here and waving," I told him.

"He is starting to get on my nerves," Shikamaru said. "He is always around at the wrong time, and it seems like he is trying to win you back."

"You need to stop being paranoid," I told him. "He may show up at all the wrong times, but I don't think he is trying to get me back. We are just friends, and I made that very clear to him."

Soon Deidara was right in front of us. "Hey guys," he said with a smile.

"Hello," I said smiling back. Shikamaru just gave him a dirty look.

"What's wrong with him?" Deidara asked. "He always seems to mad when I see him."

"Oh nothing's wrong, you're just interrupting our date," Shikamaru said angrily.

"Oh really, because I could have sworn you guys were just sitting here doing nothing. I didn't see you doing anything date like," he told him. Shikamaru glared at him. "Well anyways, I'm going to hang with you guys for a bit," Deidara said sitting down in-between me and Shikamaru.

"Why are you here anyways? I thought you and the band would be busy," I said.

"The band is busy. But like I said, I only sing. Nothing really to practice and I always come here when I have nothing to do. It's so peaceful here," he told me.

"You should still be with the band, and help them," I told him.

"Why? I don't really like them, except for Sasori. Actually the only reason I joined was because Sasori asked me too, because they needed a singer," he told me.

"Well that's not a very good reason," Shikamaru said.

"I know, but I do kind of like being in a band. It's fun," he told him. I sighed and lay down on the grass again. "Hey, you don't need to lie on the grass and get it in your hair," Deidara told me. "You can put your head on my knee." I looked over to Shikamaru who was glaring intensely at Deidara now.

"No, I'm ok like this," I told him.

"Ok fine, get your hair full of grass," Deidara said teasingly. I laughed and looked up at the clouds.

It was a few hours before Deidara got up. "Well I'd love to stay longer with you none talkative people, but I need to get home. It's getting late. And I suggest you guys get home too, your parent might be worried," he said.

"Ok, bye Deidara. And we will go soon," I told him. He waved and walked away.

"He knew we were on a date, he came here to stop it," Shikamaru said angrily when Deidara was out of ear shot.

"How could he know, he wasn't there when we planned it," I said.

"Well he saw us together, and he knows we are dating. He came to interrupt us," he said.

"You're just being paranoid because you don't like the idea of us being friends," I told him angrily.

"No, I really thing he is trying to get you back," he said. I couldn't take it anymore; Shikamaru's jealousy was getting out of hand. I pushed him to the ground and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Stop being jealous, ok? No matter what I'm not going back to him, you don't have to worry. If he starts coming to us more and more until he is with us almost all the time, then I'll talk to him. But right now let's not talk or think about this. He has only interrupted a few times, there is nothing to worry about," I told him. He opened him mouth to say something, but then closed it and looked away from me.

"Arguing in too troublesome," he said. I gave him a weird look. "You'd win anyways, so I might as well not even try," he said with a small smile. I sighed and got up.

"We should get going home," I said. Shikamaru nodded and go up too.

We started walking towards Shikamaru's house. "We should go to your house first," he said.

"Why, yours is closer," I told him.

"But I want to walk you home," he said.

"Fine," I said with a sigh. "I can't believe Mr. lazy wants to go farther than he has to."

"Hey, just because I'm lazy doesn't mean I'm not a gentleman," he said. I looked at him and started to laugh. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"You are strange sometimes," he said.

"And so are you, so I guess we are even," I told him. He just rolled his eyes.

We got to my house and he walked me to the door. Then he kissed me goodnight and said goodbye. I watched as he walked down the sidewalk and turned the corner. Then I opened the door to the house.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I finished my homework and went to the kitchen. As I got there I heard the front door open. Then Temari walked into the kitchen. "So what did you guys do today?" she asked happily.

"Homework," Kankuro said with a sigh as he shut his books.

"So you just sat there all day doing homework?" she asked. He nodded. "And you?" she asked me.

"Stuff," I told her sitting down at the table. "I'm hungry," I said.

"Fine, I'll make supper," she said with a sigh pulling out things to make. Then Kankuro got up to help her.

After supper I helped clean up. Then we Stayed up and talked a bit. After a few minutes we got up and went to our rooms, and went to bed.


	25. Spring Dance? New Science Seating

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

It was Monday again and I was headed to my class. I decided to walk down the hallway slowly, since there were still lots of time left before I actually had to be in class. Temari had made us get up early for school but didn't really tell us why. All she said was that she had to meet someone, my guess was Shikamaru. As I walked past the gym I saw a sign on the wall:

"Spring Dance this Friday, All Junior High and High School Students of this school are welcome.  
Ticket price is two dollars each.  
We will have food and drinks on sale in the hallways just outside the gym. Prices range from fifty-sense to three dollars, so bring extra money. Tickets will go on sale at lunch in the lunchroom.  
We will also be having a live band this time from our own school called The Akatsuki who have offered to play for free. So if you see Deidara, Itachi, Kisame, or Sasori in the hallways please thank them for playing.  
There will also be shirts for the band on sale in the lunchroom. Shirts are twenty-five dollars."

I rolled my eyes and continued to class. _Who would want to listen to them play, and who in their right mind would buy a shirt?_ I got to my homeroom and sat down. To my surprise I saw Neji sitting in his desk. "Since when do you come this early?" he asked. "You're usually just on time getting in."

"Temari made Gaara and I come early. She didn't say why though," I told him.

"Is she on the Dance decorating committee?" he asked.

"I don't know. Don't the popular kids usually do that?" I asked.

"Yes, but they didn't want to do this dance for some reason. So they needed some people to do it. And they needed them to come in early today to make posters, and decorations and stuff," Neji told me. "That's why I'm here early, because Hinata didn't want to come alone."

"Oh, well Temari might be on it then. I have no Idea why else she would come so early. She usually complains about having to get up," I told him. He laughed.

"Yeah, Hinata said she asked Tenten and Temari to join with her, but when we got here it was only her. So I stayed with her until Tsunade made me leave. She told me no one but the committee could see what was going on," he told me rolling his eyes.

"Tsunade is kind of scary, I'd hate to get on her bad said," I told him. He laughed.

"Kiba and Naruto know what it's like for her to be really mad. They said it's not a pretty sight. So Gaara better start behaving himself or he is going to see her like that," he told me.

"I'm sure he will be fine," I told him.

"I hope so. Kakashi is ready to send him and Kiba to the office, which isn't good for Kiba because he almost got expelled last year, him and Naruto. If they keep it up they might be gone this time," he told me.

"Fine, I'll talk to Gaara and tell him to tone down the stuff he does in Science," I said with a sigh looking up at the clock. I got up and left my bag in the desk. "There is about half an hour before school, I'm going to see if I can find him." Then I walked out of the classroom.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I put my bag in my first class at my desk and ran to the gym. I had to go help with the dace stuff because I was on the dance committee, and we only had a week to get everything ready. I got the gym and pushed open the doors. When I looked inside I saw Hinata sitting there looking at a sheet of paper with the principle looking confused. "Hey, how's it going?" I asked. They looked up at me.

"You're late," Tsunade said in an angry voice. "Hinata has been here for over an hour." Hinata blushed.

"Well I'm here before Tenten aren't I?" I asked.

"That's true," she told me slightly less angry. "And you are new to this. Hinata and Tenten have been on here before so they have no excuses. Well anyways, I'll be leaving this to you now. Shizune will probably have a load of paper work for me to do," she said with a sigh. "A word of advice girls, never become a principle if you don't like paper work and meetings and stuff." And with that she left the gym.

"So, what was making you and the principle look to puzzled?" I asked.

"Well It's just we don't know what the gym should actually look like. Some students sent in some ideas, but none of them seem too good," she told me. I went over to her and sat down. I looked over some of the designs and sighed.

"These are all horrible," I said.

"I know, we need Tenten now, she is good at this kind of stuff," Hinata said.

"Well what can we do while we wait?" I asked.

"We still need to make the tickets and a sign so that people know which table to go to buy them today. I've already made some signs advertising the dance and put them up. Oh, and we need to set up the stage for the band to go on. Or make a new one the looks good and goes with the "spring" theme," she told me.

"We are having a band play?" I asked.

"Yes, didn't you read the signs?" she asked with a sigh.

I shook my head. "I was too busy running here from my class room on the other side of the school," I told her.

"Oh, well The Akatsuki is playing for free for us," she told me. My eyes went wide.

"Deidara and his friends are going to play?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's what I just said isn't it? Well anyways, they said they would only play for free if we sold shirts in the lunchroom for them. So we need to make a sign for that too," she told me.

"So what do you want me to start with?" I asked.

"Well you can start making the signs for the tickets and shirts," she told me. I nodded, grabbed some paper and markers, and went over to start working on them.

Tenten came a few minutes later. She went over to Hinata and they started talking. Then Tenten started yelling. I looked up to see what was wrong. "These are the ugliest designs I have ever seen! Do people have any sense of style these days?" she asked angrily. Then she took a piece of paper a few markers, and sat down on a bench, and began scribbling away furiously. I sighed and got back to what I was doing. I had finished the tickets sign. I wrote "Tickets, two dollars" on it in black, and drew flowers all over the page. Now I was working on The Akatsuki band shirts sigh. I had the words "The Akatsuki" written in red and black, but didn't know what else to put on it. Then I remembered the big sign they had up in the room they were practising in at lunch when I use to go there. So I began to draw red clouds all over the sheet.

I was done and there was still twenty minutes before school actually started. I went over to Hinata and showed her the signs. "It took you ten minutes to draw flowers and clouds?" she asked.

"Hey, I'm not that good of a drawer. I wanted to make it looked as good as I could," I told her angrily. She smiled and laughed.

"I was just joking, they look really good," she told me. I smiled and thanked her.

"So now what are we suppose to do?" I asked.

"Well I have been working on what the tickets look like. So when I'm done someone needs to scan it onto the teacher's computer in the computer room, and print it off onto the special paper from the office," she told me.

"Well how long is that going to take?" I asked. "We only have twenty minutes."

"It won't take long. Go get the paper from the office. Ask for the stuff they use to print tickets on. And I'll meet you in the computer room," she told me. "And Tenten said she should be done the designing by tomorrow, so she said once I leave, she will start cleaning up, and then go to class." I nodded and went to get the paper.

When I got to the computer room Hinata was already there and had everything ready. "I scanned the ticket design onto the computer and saved it just in case we lose the one I made. So just put the paper in and we will print about two hundred tickets. I've already set it so that it puts six on one page, so as they come out you can cut them out," she told me. I nodded and pulled out some scissors and brought over two chairs to the printer; one for me to sit on and one to put the cut out tickets on.

"You know Hinata," I said as I finished the first sheet. "You're really good at being a boss and leading people when you want to be." She blushed.

"O-oh, r-really?" she asked a little nervous now.

"Yeah," I told her.

"T-thanks," she said with a smile. "I-I think I-it's because I'm j-just use to b-being around y-you now."

I looked up at her and smiled and then got back to what I was doing.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I found Gaara about ten minutes later outside sitting on the curb. "What are you doing out here?" I asked him.

"I got bored in the school by myself," he told me picking up a rock and throwing it to the other side of the road.

"Well you're still alone out here," I told him.

"So, at least there is something to do," he said.

"I remember when you use to skip rocks across the pond when you were bored and lonely at our old house," I told him.

"Yeah, well there isn't a pond by the school. So this is the best it gets. Now you can either join me, or go away and pretend you never saw me doing this," he told me.

"You use to tell me that when I saw you at the pond too," I said.

"Yeah, and you would always choose to leave. So what are you going to choose this time?" he asked.

"I think I'll join you," I told him.

"Fine," he said like he didn't care, but I could see him smiling a little. "So why were you looking for me?" he asked as I sat down beside him. I sighed and told him what Neji had told me.

"So, I'll just tone down the goofing off in Science for a bit," Gaara told me. "The other teachers need to start getting some fun in their lives anyways. I was thinking about doing something to Orochimaru," he told me. I laughed.

"That would be fun, but I'm sure he will use any excuse to have you guys stay after school or something.

"That pedophile isn't getting me to stay after school for anything. Besides, I don't think you can get detention in gym," he told me.

"I'm sure he will think of some way to keep you after," I told him.

"Whatever, I'm still going to get the guys to pull a prank on him with me," he told me.

"Ok, just as long as you cut back on the ones in science," I told him getting up. "Are you coming into the school?"

"No, I'm going to stay here a bit longer," he told me.

"Ok, I'll see you later then, Gaara," I told him with a smile. He just nodded and threw another rock across the street.

**Temari P.O.V.**

We finished with the tickets and rapped an elastic band around them. "Tenten and I are getting out of class early at lunch to sell the tickets and shirts. Can you get out early too?" she asked. I shook my head.

"They don't let you out of the class early for anything in High School," I said with a sigh. "But I'll come straight to the lunchroom and look for you guy when the bell rings." She smiled and we said goodbye. Then I started to head to my class. The bell was going to ring in five minutes.

I was almost to my first class when Deidara stopped me in the hallway. "Hey Temari," he said.

"Hey Deidara, what's up?" I asked.

"I was just wondering how the dance was coming along," he said.

"It's going good. Tenten is doing the designing, so it will be really good," I told him.

"That's good. So you going to be selling our shirts?" he asked. I shrugged. "They are the same ones I gave you and your brothers for free. The only difference is that the ones they are selling here aren't sighed from us," he told me.

"You signed the shirts you gave us?" I asked.

"Yeah, did you look at them at all?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I guess I just never looked at them enough. Well anyways I need to get to class," I told him.

"Want me to walk you to it?" he asked.

"No that's ok, it's out of your way and I don't want you to be late," I told him.

"Why, it will be like that day I first walked you to class," he said. I turned red and shook my head.

"No, it's really ok. Bye," I said to him and ran down the hallway.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I had Science first block again today. I got up from the curb and started to walk to the class; it was right by the back door of the school and just up the stairs. As I got in and started to climb the stairs Naruto and Sasuke came up behind me. "Hey Gaara, how are you?" Sasuke asked.

"We never saw you all weekend, why didn't you come over?" Naruto asked pouting.

"I was busy with all the homework we got," I told him.

"That was easy," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, we finished ours in a few hours," Naruto told me. "What's the real reason you never came over? Did we do something wrong?" he asked sadly.

"Shut up Naruto, you're such a baby," Sasuke said.

"I am not, and what does that have to do with anything?!" Naruto asked in a yell. Sasuke just smirked.

"You really like getting Naruto upset don't you?" I asked Sasuke.

"Only because it's easy," he told me shrugging.

"Don't change the subject! Why didn't you come over Gaara?" Naruto asked me.

"Because I was doing homework, and I didn't want that thing with Itachi happening again," I told him.

"But I wanted to see you, I was so bored all weekend," Naruto whined.

"So what, I'm boring now?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, you kind of get boring after a while," he told him. Sasuke just sighed as we walked into science.

We sat down were we usually did with Kiba and talked for a bit. Then the teacher came in. "Ok class, I've decided to make a new seating plan since a few people have moved around since the last one," he told us looking at Ino and Sasuke. They were at a table with Sakura before, but after what had happened during Halloween they moved. Everyone whined and sighed, but got up. We moved over to the side of the room and as he called our names we sat down again. I ended up sitting with Kiba, Shino, and Ino. And Naruto, Sasuke, Choji and one other kid sat at the table behind us. I sighed. "Now this isn't going to be for the rest of the year. If you guys behave yourselves then I'll let you sit where ever you want for the last month, maybe more," Kakashi told us.

"Yeah, so you two better be good," Ino said snobbishly. "I rather not have to sit with you longer then I have to."

"Watch yourself pig, or you might get a big stain on that purple shirt of yours," Kiba said.

"Are you threatening me dog boy?" she asked angrily.

"Maybe I am, you're just lucky I never said I was going to poor acid on that big butt of yours," he told her. "But that might not be such a bad thing for you. Sure it will hurt, but it might make it smaller."

"I'd watch what I say if I were you, dog breath, I have friends in high places," Ino told him.

"Are those the same friends that shit on your head when you walk under them because they get scared of your ugly face?" Kiba asked. Ino opened her mouth to say something but closed it and stuck her noise in the air.

"Nice one," I said to Kiba giving him a high five.

When the bell rang we headed straight to the door and waited for Naruto and Sasuke. "Ino looks really pissed off," Naruto said. "What did you guys do?" I told him and Sasuke about what Kiba had said as we headed down the hallway.

"Nice, she is going to be mad about that for a while," Sasuke said. "She hates it when someone beats her at insults."

"So Shino never did anything about it at all?" Naruto asked.

"Nope, me and him just sat there listening," I told him.

"So how was sitting with Choji?" Kiba asked. Sasuke shrugged.

"He didn't pay attention to us," Naruto said. "Usually when he is by me he asks about Shikamaru trying not to let Ino know."

"Well I'm sure he will start talking to you if you talk to him. Or start a conversation on something he likes," I told him.

"Why would we want to talk to him?" Sasuke asked.

"So we can get him to leave Ino and Shino and the other popular kids and join us. We are trying to get rid of them one by one, remember?" Kiba said.

"And this is the perfect chance to get Choji back to being best friend with Shikamaru," Naruto said happily. Sasuke sighed.

"Whatever," he said as we got to our next class.

**Temari P.O.V.**

The lunch bell rang and I got up to go the lunch room. "Where are you going so fast?" Shikamaru asked.

"I need to meet Hinata and Tenten ASAP," I told him. "Oh, can you get my stuff for this afternoon and then bring my bag to me in the lunchroom? I'm not going to have time to go to my locker at all," I told him.

"What, why not?" he asked.

"Please just do it, you'll see when you come to the lunch room. My locker com is in my notebook on the second page from the front," I told him handing him my stuff.

"Ok, I guess I can," he said. "It isn't too far from mine."

"Thank you so much," I said happily giving him a hug. "I'll see you soon." And with that I raced out of the room.

When I got to the lunchroom Tenten and Hinata were working hard on getting tickets and shirts for everyone. I ran over to them. "I got here as fast as I could," I said.

"Good, can you move the shirts to that table over there and put the sign out?" Tenten asked. "Here is the box for the money for them," she said handing me the box. I nodded and moved the shirts over to the other table. They only brought three of the boxes we had. One box had an S on it, the other an M, and then last one an L, for small, medium, and large. I opened the boxes and put the sign out. A big group of people came rushing over as soon as I had done this. _How do they have money for this? The notice just came out today. Do they carry a hundred dollars or something around with them?_ I started selling shirts. They were just like mine and my brothers like Deidara said. They were black and had red clouds on them, with the words The Akatsuki on them in silver and a list of places they were playing this spring and summer at the back. When there was no one left in line, because they never had any money left to buy a shirt after buying lunch, I took a shirt out to look at the back. I had never really looked at it that much before, just the front. It said on the back that they were playing: here at the school, at the night club, at a teen club, and a few other places this summer in different towns._ Well I guess going lots of places this summer is good. I mean this is their last year in school. After that they have their high school and if they ever brake up they can go straight to collage. But I never knew they were this popular._

A few minutes later when the ticket line had settled down Hinata came over to me. "Lunch is almost over, are you going to go get something to eat? You can close this stand, Tenten and I will move the boxes back to the storage room," she told me.

"Well what about your lunch?" I asked.

"When we came to set up we bought lunch and ate it while doing it," she told me.

"Ok, I'll see you two later then," I said getting up and waved goodbye as I walked over to the lunch line.

I got my lunch and sat down with the guys. "I see you girls were working hard over there," Lee said.

"Yeah, I didn't know The Akatsuki was that popular," I said. "And I don't even know how people had money for shirts today."

"So where is the money for the shirts going?" Neji asked.

"I think the school is getting twenty-five present of the money, and the band is getting the rest," I told him.

"That's just like them. They were probably like, "well if we get them to sell shirts and we play for free then we will get more money,"" Shikamaru said.

"I'm pretty sure that's what this is," I said with a sigh. "Thanks for getting my stuff by the way."

"You're welcome," he said.

"Well anyways, Gaara, Kiba, Sasuke, and Naruto were just telling us about their Science class," Kankuro said.

"Oh god, what did you guys do now?" I asked. They told me what happened.

"Well as long as you never got in trouble or anything," I said.

"We never," Kiba told me as the bell rang.

"Well I'll see you guys later," I told them, and me and Shikamaru got up and headed to class.


	26. Prank on Orochimaru

**Gaara P.O.V**

It was gym class, and the last class of the day. We walked into the gym and to the locker room with Orochimaru looking at us as we went in. "I bet he wishes he could come in here," Kiba said disgusted.

"He could come in if he really needed too..." Naruto said. We shuddered at the thought of that old man walking in on us changing. As we thought this the door to the locker room opened, and we ran to the back of the room behind some lockers.

"Hurry up, or I'm going to have to mark you late," Orochimaru said as I peeked around the corner and saw him opening the door all the way looking in hopefully. He sighed and closed the door again.

"Do you think it's safe to finish changing?" Sasuke asked trying to hide the fact that he was really scared.

"I don't know, go see," Kiba said. Sasuke shuddered.

"No, you can't make Sasuke go!" Naruto yelled. We looked at him. I smirked. Naruto tilted his head confused. I grabbed him and pushed him out from behind the lockers, and Kiba pushed Sasuke. They stood there froze, but the door never opened. Kiba and I walked out, went over to our clothes and finished changing. Sasuke and Naruto still hadn't moved and all the other boys were out of the room already.

"Hurry up you two, or we will be late," I said. Sasuke glared at me and Kiba.

"That was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. Do you know what would have happened if he was looking in?" Sasuke asked. We never said anything. "Well I don't know either, but it would have been bad," he said changing. Naruto just put on his clothes quietly.

"I think we freaked Naruto out the most, he isn't saying anything," Kiba whispered to me. I nodded.

For the first part of the gym class Naruto and Sasuke were go on full defence, ready to run when Orochimaru passed by them. But when he never did anything they started to let their guard down. "Are you guys going to be paranoid for life now?" Kiba asked. They never said anything.

"If we knew it was going to screw you up this bad we wouldn't have pushed you out like that," I told them. They still never said anything. They just concentrated on the basket ball game we were playing against them. Sasuke shot and scored.

"Watch out Orochimaru is coming over to give you a good job pat!" Kiba told Naruto and Sasuke making it sound like one word. They turned to look, but turned too fast and fell on the ground. Kiba and I laughed. They glared at him, but then Naruto started to laugh.

"You almost made me wet myself I was so scared," Naruto said.

"You guys are such jerks," Sasuke said getting up.

"Says Sasuke the biggest jerk in the school," I said. Sasuke sighed.

"I guess you got me there," he said with a little chuckle.

Gym was half over, and we were getting sick on playing basket ball. "Well I guess it's time to put our prank into action. Everyone know the plan?" I asked. They nodded. I had told them what we were going to do after Temari and Shikamaru left at lunch. We had managed to get Sasuke do most of the stuff because he was Orochimaru's 'favourite' student.

Sasuke went over to Orochimaru as we watched from close by. "What's the matter boy?" Orochimaru asked.

"I'm sick of basket ball," Sasuke told him. "I want to try something new, something I haven't done before." Orochimaru raised an eyebrow and started to check Sasuke out.

"Like what?" he asked eagerly. Sasuke shivered in discus at the old man as did the rest of us. We knew he was thinking dirty thoughts.

"Why did we make Sasuke do this?" Naruto whined.

"Don't worry, he will go all emo on him in a secant," Kiba told him. "Then there will be no way to get through to him to scar his mind."

Sasuke went and sat on a bench close by. Orochimaru watched. "Oh who am I kidding," he said. "I can't do anything, not even basketball. I suck at everything, even life."

"That's not true I saw you make a great basket," Orochimaru told him disappointed in Sasuke's change in mood.

"That was just luck. I don't even get lucky like that often. I hate life. I should just go crawl into a corner and die. But I would probably suck at that too," Sasuke told him.

"He is laying it on a little thick don't you think?" I asked a whisper.

"I think hanging with us has made him lose that emo mood," Naruto said.

"Who cares, Orochimaru is distracted. Let's go," Kiba said, and we headed over to his office.

When we got to the office we shut the door and went to the computer. To our luck he had it on and unlocked. We made Naruto look out and went to the internet. Kiba and I looked through a bunch of pictures of a few things. We set his background to a picture of a girl bathing suit model, and saved a bunch of pictures of girl models in his pictures file. We deleted all his old pictures, which were mostly of snakes, and printed off a few of the pictures we had just put in his file. Then we hung them around his office, and took down and ripped up anything that had to do with snakes. Then we made a sign for the locker room door that said "No Snakes Allowed." "Do you know how to block websites on here?" I asked Kiba and Naruto. Naruto was looking out the window in the office at Orochimaru and Sasuke.

"Sasuke is crying now," Naruto told us.

"Yes, that's a good job for him. But it doesn't answer my question," I told him.

"Well _sorry_," Naruto said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I know how to block sites. I watched my mom and sister do it so I knew how to unblock them later," Kiba said. I looked up at him.

"I don't even want to know what you were looking at to make them block it," I told him.

"It was nothing bad!" he said turning slightly red.

"Whatever. Just block all the sites that you can find that mention snakes, and delete and block all his favourites," I told him. He nodded and got to work.

Class was almost over when Kiba was done. He sighed and turned the screen off like it was before we went on it. "Just in time too," Naruto said. "I think Sasuke is running out of tears and things to say." We left the office and walked over to Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke, why have you been gone so long, we need you to play with us," Kiba said.

"Yeah, these guys are beating me bad without you. You are the best player out of the four of us," Naruto told him with a smile. Sasuke looked up at us.

"Really?" he asked. We nodded. He jumped up from the bench and followed us.

"That boy is very strange. Stranger then his brother he is," I heard Orochimaru say under his breath.

**Temari P.O.V.**

It was the end of the day now. When the bell rang I rushed to my locker. "What's the hurry now?" Shikamaru asked following close behind.

"I need to meet Tenten and Hinata again to see if we are coming early tomorrow," I told him. "Do you know where their lockers are by any chance?" He shook his head.

"Just come to my locker, I'm sure you will meet one of them on the way," he told me. "This is the problem with being friends with people in lower grades then you. You never see them."

"You're one to talk," I said following him to his locker. He laughed.

When we got to his locker I spotted Hinata at hers just down the hall. I ran over to her. "Are we meeting early again?" I asked her.

"Yeah, Tsunade wants us to come early every morning until the dance," she told me.

"Ok, it's going to be hard getting up early enough to get here," I said. She nodded as Ino, Shino, and Chouji walked by.

"I hope you guys aren't going to mess up the dance too bad. Without my style it's going to be a big fail," Ino said.

"Tenten is way better then you are at designing things," I told her.

"Yeah, she designed and planned all the dances before this year. And I have to say, Ino, that last dance you made wasn't as good without Tenten and I helping you," Hinata told her as Shikamaru came over.

"What's your problem now Ino?" he asked.

"You're girlfriends here is just a total jerks," she said.

"You're one to talk," he told her. Ino turned to Chouji and Shino.

"Well don't just stand there, back me up!" she yelled at them. They never did anything. "Whatever, I don't need you," she said storming off. Shino followed. Chouji looked at Shikamaru with a sad expression, and then went off after his two so called friends.


	27. Homework, The Shirt's

**Kankuro P.O.V**.

I got up early with Temari to get breakfast ready. "Are we going to have to get up early and go to school early every day?" I asked.

"Yeah, at least until the dance, after that we can get up when we use to," Temari told me. "But you guys don't have to get up early and leave with me."

"Yeah we do, without you we probably wouldn't get up in the morning. And even if I did, I'd never get Gaara up," I told her.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she said with a chuckle. "Well I better go get Gaara up," she told me leaving the room.

I finished making the toast and eggs. I put the plates out on the table, and started to clean the pan we used to make the eggs. Then I sat down and waited. Temari came into the room with an angry, sleepy Gaara following behind her. "I don't get why we have to get up early with you," he said angrily.

"Because if you don't you won't get up at all," Temari reminded him.

"So, then we would get to miss some school," he said angrily.

"You're not missing school! Now eat your breakfast, and then we are leaving!" She told him angrily.

"If I eat slowly does that mean we get to leave later?" he asked.

"No, it just means you don't get to finish eating," Temari told him. He sighed and sat down to eat.

We left the house a few minutes later after cleaning up the dishes. "You two are such a pain," Temari told us.

"Give us a break, we are just boys," I told her.

"That excuse stopped working once you guys hit twelve," she told me.

"Girls are so annoying," Gaara said sleepily from behind Temari and me.

"I won't even comment on that because you're half asleep," Temari told him.

"Whatever," he said.

"I can see none of us are morning people," I said.

"No really, you just figured that out?" Temari asked.

"Well you didn't have to be so rude about it," I told her.

"Will you two shut up, I have a headache!" Gaara yelled at us, and then grabbed his head.

"This is going to be a long walk to school," I said with a sigh.

**Temari P.O.V.**

We got to school and I rushed to my locker, then the gym. Tsunade, Hinata, and Tenten were there waiting. "Late again I see Temari," Tsunade said angrily.

"It was my brothers, they wouldn't get up this morning," I told her.

"Well can't you come without them and they come later?" she asked.

"No, without me they wouldn't even get up in the mornings. Plus we have to walk to school," I told her.

"What about your parents?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"They go to work really early, and get home really late," I told her.

"Fine, you're off the hook and have a reason to be late then," she told me a little disappointed. "Well I'm off now, see you girls tomorrow morning."

Once Tsunade left the room I went over to Hinata and Tenten. "So how long do you think you can actually keep the parent's thing a secret from the whole school?" Tenten asked.

"As long as I want as long as no one tells," I told her. "Why, are you thinking of telling someone, because if you are, Sasuke is going to have to kill you," I said very seriously. Tenten went wide-eyed. I looked at her for a few secants then burst out laughing. "I was just kidding, no need to get all scared," I told her.

"Oh, well that's good," she said with a sigh of relief.

"So how are the decorations going Tenten?" Hinata asked.

"Good, I have it all planned out, we just need to make them now," she told her.

"Why don't you just buy them, you have money," I told her.

"It will look better handmade. Besides my parents don't want me using our money for school activities and more," she told me. I raised an eyebrow. "The only reason the dances were so good before is because Ino used mine and Hinata's families' money for the decorations," she told me with a sigh. I looked at Hinata.

"It's true. She doesn't have any money or sense of style of her own, so she used mine and Tenten's," Hinata told me.

"So that's why the Halloween dance sucked," I said. They nodded.

"Well anyways, I need you two to start making four giant flowers. Two pink and two red," Tenten said. "I'm not going to show you guys what the gym is going to look like until all the decorations are done." Hinata and I nodded and got to work on the flowers.

I took us an hour to do the flowers. First we had to hunt down some giant sheets of paper. Then we had to bring them back to the gym without wrecking them; witch was kind of hard because they ripped easily. When we finally got to the gym with them Tenten made us go back and get some yellow paper too. Then we had to sit there and wait for her to draw the outline of the flowers onto the paper, because she didn't trust us to make it look good. After she was finally done she told us to cut it out slowly so we didn't wreck it. While we cut out the four flowers she started on drawing perfect circles on the yellow paper. Once we were done with the flowers Tenten took the scissors and cut out the circles herself. She was scared that we were going to make it look uneven. "You're really a perfectionist," I said.

"No, just with decorating," she told me. "And that's because I want to rub it in Ino's face that we can make better dances then her."

"And it's a handmade dance, which is even better," Hinata said happily.

"So where are we putting these so they don't get wrecked?" I asked as Hinata and I glued the yellow circles on the flowers.

"There is a special room in the back of the gym office for stuff like this," Tenten said.

"That's kind of weird, a whole room for gym decorations?" I asked.

"Yep, it has decorations from every dance so far, just in case we want to re-use them," she told me as Hinata and I finished with the last flower and the bell rang.

"Tenten and I will put these away, all we have is homeroom right now," Hinata said.

"Ok thanks, I do have to go all the way to the other end of the school," I told her with a smile. We waved good-bye and I left for my first class.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I sat at my table in Science waiting for Kiba. Shino was the only one there with me. "So, where's Ino?" I asked. He didn't say anything. I looked around the room. Chouji wasn't there either. "What about Chouji?" I asked. He still didn't say anything. "What, are you mad because they ditched you or something?" I asked, but he still never said anything. "Whatever man, you're lucky I even said anything to you," I said putting my head down on the table. I closed my eyes.

"I lost them in the hallway, so I came here," he said finally, but very quietly so I could just hear him.

"Did they do that by accident?" I asked not lifting my head or opening my eyes. That way it made it look like we weren't talking if someone happened to look over to the table.

"I don't know," he said. "But I don't care either."

"You don't care if your friends ditch you?" I asked.

"They aren't my friends if they do that, are they?" he asked.

"Or they are just not very good ones," I told him. He gave a little chuckle.

The secant bell rang and Kiba, Hinata, Ino, Chouji, and Naruto came rushing into the class; Sasuke was already there. "Sasuke where were you?" Naruto asked very loudly so that the whole class could here; if they weren't being just as loud that is.

"I was here," Sasuke said quietly, but I still heard him because of the fact that his table was right behind mine.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" Naruto pouted.

"I wanted to get to school and not be almost late again," he told him.

"You're really mean Sasuke," he told him.

"Forget him Naruto, he just doesn't know how to have fun," Kiba told him.

"Hey, where's Gaara?" Naruto asked. _At least one of them actually noticed that I wasn't there._

"Over at his table," Sasuke told him. "He's been there sleeping."

I felt a tap on my shoulder. "What do you want Naruto?" I asked.

"So you are awake?" he asked.

"Remotely," I told him.

"Well why do you get up so early if you are going to be sleeping at school?" he asked.

"Temari makes me and Kankuro come early," I told him.

"Ok, well you have fun sleeping then," Naruto said with a sigh. "I'm going to go bug emo boy some more."

"Yeah, you go do that," I told him with a chuckle.

"Sasuke, did we have any homework?" Naruto yelled running off over to him.

"Why didn't you ask last night if you didn't know?" Sasuke asked a little pissed off.

"Because I forgot, will you do it for me now?" he asked.

"No you idiot, you can do it yourself or fail," he told him. I laughed and then tuned them out knowing that there was going to be a big fight that followed.

Kakashi came into the room a few minutes later and everyone ran to their tables. Kiba was sitting with Naruto and Sasuke at theirs, and Ino and Chouji were sitting on the lab counters at the side of the class. "Hey Gaara, you can wake up now. The teacher is here," Kiba told me.

"I know, I am awake," I told him with a sigh. "You can't really sleep in a room this noisy."

"Sorry for being late everyone, you see the gym teacher Orochimaru needed help with something in his office," he said blushing a little. No one said anything. "Well aren't you guys going to say that I'm lying, so I can tell you that's it's the truth?" he asked. Kiba, Naruto, and I burst out laughing. "I'm guessing you guys had something to do with it then?" he asked. We didn't say anything, we just laughed. "Well you won't get in trouble this time, if it was you," he said.

"That's because you liked cleaning it up," Kiba said under his breath.

"Anyways, I don't really have anything for you guys to do today. So if you are done your homework from last night you have free time. If not, work on that, I know it was a lot," Kakashi told the class. Everyone, but Naruto, cheered and went off to talk to their friends.

Kiba and I walked over to Sasuke and Naruto. "I'm not doing your homework for you, you had time last night and he is giving you time now," Sasuke told Naruto angrily.

"But I don't get it!" Naruto yelled at him.

"Naruto, shut up and do your work," I told him.

"But I don't want to!" he pouted.

"Do your homework now or we will go sit somewhere else, we can help you, but we can't do it for you," Kiba said.

"You're one to talk, I bet you didn't do it either," Naruto said.

"Yes I did. I did it last night when I was supposed to," he told him.

"Well Sasuke never reminded me!" Naruto whined.

"So what, before you just never did your work?" Sasuke asked.

"No, I did it right away when I got home," he said quietly hanging his head.

"See, so you can do it now," I told him.

"Please Naruto, do your work," Hinata said.

"Fine, don't help me, I can do it myself!" he yelled and got to work.

Naruto was done just before class was over. "There, I'm done, happy now?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Sasuke said. "Now next time do it when you get home." Naruto crossed his arms and looked away from him.

"Wow, the worst kids in school actually get their homework done?" Ino asked.

"Well we have to keep our grades up if we want to stay in school and be trouble makers, don't we?" Kiba asked.

"I bet you don't even do your homework," Sasuke said.

"Yes I do!" Ino yelled.

"You don't get it though, you always had to ask me for help," Hinata said under her breath.

"Wow Ino, getting other people to do your work for you? It's a wonder you pass your tests," I said. Ino turned and looked at Chouji and Shino who were behind her.

"What do you want us to do?" they asked.

"Trying to get them to make a comeback for you Ino?" Kiba asked. "That's really lame."

"You guys are so useless!" Ino yelled at Chouji and Shino, and she stormed off back to her table. They turned to go after her, but I stopped them.

"Are you really going to go after her?" I asked them. "She practically ditched you."

"We aren't supposed to talk to losers," Chouji said.

"There are more of us "losers" then popular people now. I think the popular people are turning into the losers," Sasuke told them. They never said anything.

"Come on, you'll love being our friends more than hers," Hinata said. "I know, I use to be her second best friend."

"We need to go, come on Chouji," Shino said dragging him off over to Ino.

"Damn, we just about had them," I said.

"That was weird," Naruto said finally after watching the whole thing. "But don't worry. I'm close to getting Chouji back. I really want to see him and Shikamaru as friends again."

"And I was talking to Shino this morning. I don't think he likes Ino very much," I said.

"So you were talking to him? I thought he was talking to himself. I saw his lips moving and you sleeping," Sasuke said.

"I was trying to talk to him before, but I think he preferred to make it look like he was talking to himself instead of me," I told him.

"He has always been like that. He doesn't like it to seem like he is talking to people," Hinata said with a sigh.

"Don't worry guys, we will get them to be our friends one day," Naruto said happily as the bell rang.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"So how is the gym decorating going?" I asked Tenten.

"Good, we have one of the many things we need done. Temari, Hinata, and I might need to stay after school on Thursday to finish," she told me.

"But that means I have to stay after too!" Neji and I said in unison. We looked at each other.

"There you go, you will have someone to talk to," Tenten laughed.

"But that means I have to walk home alone," Lee said sadly.

"Stay after with them then," Tenten told him as we got into our classroom.

"But my mom doesn't like me getting home late on a school night," he told her.

"Since when is your mom home at night, she is always at her restaurant," Neji said.

"Fine, I'll stay," he said with a sigh.

"But it will have to be outside, Tsunade doesn't let people into the school after hours innless they have to be," Tenten told him.

"What, that's not fair!" the three of us said together. We looked at each other and blinked.

"Ok, you have to stop doing that, it's weird," Tenten told us.

"Anyways, did you guys do your homework?" Lee asked. Tenten, Neji, and I nodded. "I love having smart friends, so whose can I copy?" he asked. We shook our heads. "I had to help my mom though!" he yelled. "I can copy fast!"

"Fine," I said handing him my homework. "You're lucky its math."

"Why can't I have Neji's? He is smarter," he said.

"Fine, I'll take mine and you won't get to copy anyone's," I told him.

"No, no, you're smart too! I'm sorry!" he said a little taken it back. I sighed and shook my head.

"You're like Naruto," Neji said. "You both need to step up and do your own work." Lee gave him a dirty look then got back to work.

"I usually do my best, it was just last night," he told him.

"That is true Neji," Tenten said. Neji sighed and looked up the front as the teacher finally started to try and quiet down the class.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I rushed to the lunch room. Shikamaru had agreed to get my stuff from my locker because I had to go sell Shirts for the band again. Tenten and Hinata were already there. They smiled at me as they saw me running up to them. I set up the Shirt table again, and a line instantly formed. Some of the people, I noticed, had been there the day before for a shirt. When I asked them why they were their again they said it was because you always needed two shirts, one to wear and one to keep as a collector's item. When they said this, the people around started to talk and agree. Most of them told me that they would be back tomorrow for another shirt.

It was half way through lunch and the ticket and Shirt lines were still full. I sighed as I noticed the Shirts were running out. _This means I'm going to have to go get more._ As I thought this Deidara came walking over to me. "I see your selling my shirts again," he said.

"They aren't your shirts, they're your bands," I said.

"Didn't I tell you? I made them for the band," he said happily.

"Yes, well they are very nice, but I need to go get more if you'll excuse me," I told him getting up.

"No need, I saw you were running low and got the guys to go get them for you. Anything to help you know," he told me. I looked over to the cafeteria door and saw Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori each coming in carrying a box. They came and dropped them down behind me. Then they went to go get lunch. "Anything else you need help with? Maybe selling them, the line is pretty big," Deidara told me.

"No, I'm fine," I told him.

"Come on, let me help," he said.

"Why don't you just go back with your friends?" I asked.

"Because I want to be with you, we hardly ever see each other anymore," he said.

"What do you mean, it's like everywhere I go you're there," I told him still working on selling the shirts.

"Then maybe we are meant to be together," he said. I blushed.

"We already tried going out, remember?" I asked.

"Yes, well let's try again. I promise this time it will be better," Deidara said.

"I have a boyfriend though, and I don't want to break up with him. He is really nice and good to me. Please, let's just be friends. I knew all along that you were trying to get back with me, but I had to pretend like I didn't know so that everyone would lay off you. It's been really hard trying to re-assure my friends that you are a good guy and weren't trying anything," I told him.

"Fine, but I still want to see you lots and stuff," he told me.

"Yeah, yeah, now go away please," I told him.

"Can I get a hug first?" he asked.

"Fine," I said blushing more. I got up so I was closer to his height, and gave him a hug. "Now go, I have your shirts to sell." He nodded and walked off to go get lunch.

A few minutes later Tenten came over to me. "Go eat your lunch, I can take over," she told me. I nodded and let her take over. There were more people in the shirt line then in the ticket line anyways, so Hinata could sell the tickets alone. I went and got my lunch then sat down with the boys.

"Why do all those people want a shirt anyways?" Kankuro asked. I shrugged.

"I would never buy one of those," Kiba said.

"I wouldn't either," Sasuke agreed. Naruto crossed his arms and looked around the table at everyone. Then he slowly got up.

"And where are you going?" Gaara asked.

"No wear," he told him. Everyone raised an eyebrow. "Fine, I'm going to go buy a shirt," he said a little embarrassed.

"And where did you get the money for one?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't have money for one," he told him. "I'm going to get Tenten to buy it for me."

"Like she is actually going to buy you one," Neji said.

"We'll see," he said heading over to the shirt line.

"Wait, Naruto, I'm coming too!" Lee yelled going after him.

"Those boys are weird," I said. Everyone nodded.

"Well I'm going to get going," Sasuke said getting up. But instead of going to the doors he headed after Naruto and Lee.

"I will never understand them," Shikamaru said shaking his head.

"I won't either," Neji said.

"Watch them come back with shirts Tenten buys for them," Kankuro said.

"Well if they do then I might get one," Kiba told him.

"Not you too," Gaara said with a sigh.

"Well I don't want to be the only one without one," Neji said.

"Since when do you care about being like everyone else?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't. It's just that if all my friends, who hate the band, are getting one. Then I might as well too," he told him. "Besides, it could be worth money one day."

"That's true," Shikamaru said. "I might get one then. For the money that it will be worth that is."

"You guys are so weird," I said.

"Says the girl who has a signed one," Neji said.

"That's different, I got mine as a gift," I told him.

"That's not fair. You, Kankuro, and Gaara got free signed ones!" Kiba said jealously getting up.

"Where are you going?" Gaara asked.

"I'm going to get Hinata to buy me a shirt," he told him.

"You are not getting my cousin to buy you a shirt," Neji told him angrily.

"I'll pay her back. Come on, you can get one too. I know you're loaded with money right now," he said.

"Just because my _cousin_ is rich, doesn't mean _I _am," he told him.

"Oh, but you are," Kiba said. Neji mumbled something under his breath. Then he stood up with Kiba and went over to the line.

I looked over to Shikamaru. "Well aren't you going to go buy one now?" I asked.

"No," he said.

"Why, everyone else has one," I told him.

"Exactly," he said.

"What if I get it signed for you so it's worth more, if you ever sell it?" I asked. He sighed and got up. He motioned for me to come, and I followed him to the line.

"This is going to take forever," Naruto whined.

"Here, I'll go get you some. Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, give me your money so I can skip to the front for you," I told them. They handed me the money. I passed the whole line and went up to the front. "Tenten, the boys are complaining about having to wait in line. Can I sneak in here and get some shirts for them?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure," she said. "But how did they get the money for it?"

"Well Shikamaru, Neji, and Lee already had it. Naruto and Sasuke were wondering if you could pay for them. And Kiba was going to get the money from Hinata," I told her. She sighed.

"Well I can't say no to two very poor boys, can I?" She said taking the money for two shirts out of her pocket. Then she took the money I brought and put it all in the cash box. Then I went over to Hinata and told her about Kiba. She sighed and handed me some money. I gave it to Tenten and she let me take six shirts. I went back to the boys who were still way in the back and gave them their shirts. They thanked me and we went back to the table with Kankuro and Gaara.

"So when do I get my shirt sighed?" Shikamaru asked. I sighed and looked around the room. Deidara, Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori were sitting at a table in the far corner of the room. I took Shikamaru's shirt and walked over to the table.

"Hey guys," I said smiling as I got up to them. They looked up at me.

"What?" Itachi asked.

"I was wondering if you could sign this for me," I told him.

"Don't you already have a signed one?" Sasori asked.

"Yes, but this is for someone else," I told him.

"Who, you're boyfriend?" Kisame asked. I nodded.

"Fine, we will sign it. But, only if I get a kiss," Deidara said jokingly.

"I'm not giving you a kiss," I told him. Sasori and Kisame laughed at him.

"You just got rejected!" Kisame yelled.

"But, you can have another hug," I said ignoring his friends.

"It's a deal. But a real one this time, not a "hurry up and go" one," Deidara told me. I agreed and gave him another hug. He signed the shirt. Then he gave it to Itachi. Itachi just signed his name on it quickly not saying anything. Then he handed it to Kisame. Kisame looked at me.

"I want a hug too," he told me with a big grin. I crossed my arms and gave him a dirty look. "I swear I won't try anything funny," he told me.

"Fine," I said with a sigh and gave him a hug too. He signed the shirt and handed it to Sasori.

"What, I don't get one? I want a hug," he said under his breath. I laughed and hugged him too. He signed the shirt and gave it back to me.

"Thank you guys," I said. We said good-bye and I went back to Shikamaru.

Naruto, Sasuke, Lee, and Neji, were already gone. And Tenten and Hinata were packing up the ticket and band shirt tables. "That sure took you a while," Shikamaru said watching as I came back.

"I ran into a problem," I told him. "Nothing big though, it was fine."

"What happened?" Gaara asked curiously.

"They wouldn't do it innless I gave them something," I told him.

"And what did they want?" Kankuro ask raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing really, everyone except Itachi wanted a hug is all," I told him.

"They wanted just a hug?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yep, no big deal," I told him as the bell for lunch to be over rang. "Well we better get going," I said. "Bye Gaara, Kankuro, Kiba." They said bye, and Shikamaru and I left the lunch room to go to class.


	28. Deidara and Sasori's Talk

**Gaara P.O.V.**

"I really don't like those guys," I told Kiba and Hinata as we walked to class. "They are really taking advantage of Temari."

"I don't think she really cares," Kiba said with a sigh.

"She probably likes the attention," Hinata said. I gave her and Kiba a dirty look.

"What, it's the truth," Kiba told me.

"Whatever," I said.

"And I thought she told you not to get involved with stuff like that anymore," Hinata said.

"So, that doesn't mean I can't talk about it to other people," I told her.

"Well it gets kind of annoying," Kiba told me. I sighed as we walked into the class room.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"So Deidara's been hitting on Temari again?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah, and the other guys are starting to try stuff too," I told her.

"I'm sure she can take care of herself," she told me. "If it gets to be too much, she will stop it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said with a sigh.

**Temari P.O.V.**

Shikamaru sighed as we got to the gym. We had gym right after lunch today. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. I raised an eyebrow. "I'll tell you later."

"No, tell me now," I said.

"I'll tell you after we change," he said.

"But I want to know now," I pouted.

"Well in less you want to come into the guys change room, you're going to have to wait," he told me.

"Fine, I'll come then," I said with a serious tone.

"You're not coming into the boys change room," Shikamaru told me a little annoyed.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you don't need to see a bunch of naked boys," he told me.

"You're treating me like I'm your doughtier or something," I told him sticking my tongue out at him. He shook his head and sighed. "I was only kidding you know," I told him giggling.

"I'm sure you were," he said rolling his eyes and disappearing into the boys change room. I laughed and went to change in the girls.

When I was done almost the whole class was already out and waiting for the teacher. I went over to Shikamaru. "Took you long enough," he said.

"Well sorry, I like to wait until most of the people are gone to change," I told him. He raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask," I told him. He sighed. "So are you going to tell me what was wrong?" I asked him.

"Later," he said.

"You said that already, tell me now," I said.

"You're going to get mad at me though," he told me.

"Why, you being all jealous of Deidara again?" I asked. He nodded. "Come on, we are just friends. Please stop worrying," I told him.

"Well it's just that..." he said trailing off. I looked at him confused. "I'll tell you later," he said.

"Why do you keep saying that, what's wrong?" I asked. He looked into my eyes.

"I promise I will tell you soon, ok? I'll tell you when I'm ready," he told me. I nodded. I knew by the look in his eyes that he would tell me soon like he said. He gave me a small smile as the teacher walked in.

That day in gym class the teacher gave us free time. She said that we could do whatever we wanted as long as we were outside. But she also said that if we weren't going to do anything that involved exercise that we had to do ten laps around the field. "I know that I said you could do anything, but I don't want to get in trouble for not having you guys do any exercise at all. So just do the ten laps and then you can go sit down or talk of something," the gym teacher said blowing her whistle fort the few of us to run. Deidara, Sasori, Itachi, Kisame, Shikamaru, and I were the only ones running. The rest of the tens, elevens, and twelve's were playing soccer and football.

When we finally finished Shikamaru and I went over to the shade of some trees. We dropped down to the ground and lay in the grass looking at the clouds. "That field is so big, I almost died running that," I said still a little out of breath.

"We should have played soccer or something," Shikamaru said. "That's way less work then what we just had to do." I laughed.

"If you were planning on being defence and just standing there, then she would have made you run the laps anyways," I told him.

"Yeah you're probably right," he said with a chuckle. "I only got away with that in elementary school." I let out a sigh.

"I want to go to sleep," I said yawning.

"Wow, and your usually the more energetic one," Shikamaru said.

"Yeah well I had to get up really early for the past two days, and I still have to get up early for the rest of the week," I told him closing my eyes.

"I guess that's true," he said. "I'd be tired too."

I few minutes later I heard footsteps coming right up to my head. I opened my eyes and saw Deidara standing over me. "Sleeping during gym? That's something I never saw before," he said with a smile. "And you," he said pointing at Shikamaru. "I thought you were her boyfriend, why aren't you letting her rest her head on you?"

"She didn't ask?" Shikamaru asked him a little confused.

"She shouldn't have to ask. You should just put your arm around her to let her know she can. What kind of boyfriend are you?" he asked him. I laughed. "What?" he asked.

"I can't believe your giving him tips on how to be a good boyfriend," I said sitting up.

"Well I obviously have to since he doesn't know how. And besides, if I can't date you then I want you to have a descent boyfriend," he told me sitting down by me.

"I know how to be a good boyfriend," Shikamaru muttered angrily under his breath. I laughed.

"I think you should go, you made Shikamaru mad," I told Deidara.

"It's not my fault he doesn't have to courage to do anything," Deidara told me.

"Come on now, you're starting to get mean," I told him pouting.

"Fine, I'm sorry," he said.

"Whatever," Shikamaru told him.

"Why are you being like that?" I asked.

"Because I've been bullied by him and his friends for a long time and the only reason they stopped is because of you. They aren't really sorry about anything. They are just scared of you, or don't want to be on their bad side," he told me.

"Hey, now you know I never really wanted to join in on any of the bullying," Deidara told him.

"Yeah, but you didn't try very hard to stop it either, so you're still just as bad as the other three," he told him. Deidara opened him mouth to say something but I stopped him.

"Will you two just stop it? It's over with and Deidara won't be doing it anymore. He won't even give you tips on anything, and if he wants to talk to you it won't be insults or bugging you, right?" I asked Deidara. He nodded.

"I'm trying to be better..." he said trailing off.

"Fine, whatever," Shikamaru said as the teacher blew her whistle to call us in the get changed.

I got into the change room fast and changed before anyone else got in. Then I went and waited outside the gym for Shikamaru. When I got there Deidara and Sasori were already there talking. I hid inside the door and listened to their conversation. "Why do you keep ditching us to go be with Temari and that nerd?" Sasori asked Deidara.

"Because you guys weren't doing anything, so I went to see them," he told him.

"Why? It's not like being nice and hanging out with them is going to get Temari to break up with that loser and go with you," Sasori told him.

"So, at least I get to be her friend and spend time with her. And stop calling Shikamaru and loser and a nerd. He is actually a good guy when you get to know him. I can see why Temari likes him," Deidara told him.

"Ever since Temari broke up with you you've changed man," Sasori told him. "I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's starting to seem like you don't want to be Kisame, Itachi, and my friend anymore. I can handle that you're not that bad like us, you never were, but when you start ditching us to hang out with some chick that dumped you because you were being you and are friends with us, then there is something wrong."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong," Deidara told him with a sad tone in his voice.

"Well you know if you ever need to talk about anything, you can with me. We have been best friends since kindergarten. I may seem like a jerk at times and like I don't care, but I really do," Sasori told him.

As he said he this Shikamaru tapped me on the back and I jumped. I looked at him angrily. "Don't sneak up on me like that," I told him a little annoyed.

"Wow, someone's jumpy at the moment, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing, let's go," I said walking out the door with him following. We walked by Deidara and Sasori who were still waiting for Kisame; Itachi had come out behind us.

"Were you listening to their conversation or something? You were standing pretty close to the door," Shikamaru said.

"Maybe I was," I told him.

"Well what were they talking about?" he asked. I sighed and told him what I had heard as the bell rang and we got into our classroom.


	29. Ino, Shino, and Chouji Missing?

**Gaara P.O.V.**

It was Friday and the day of the spring dance, and I was half asleep in my bed. I heard my bedroom door open. "Do I have to get up?" I asked. I didn't know who it was, but I did know they were coming in to get me up.

"Well your already awake aren't you? You might as well get out of bed," Temari told me.

"I'm only awake because I'm use to being up this early now," I said with a sigh.

"Well this is the last day you have to get up early, and tomorrow is the start of spring break, so you can sleep in," she told me. I yawned and sat up.

"I'll be in the kitchen in two minutes then," I told her. She smiled and closed my door so I could get dressed.

After I had got dressed and everything I went to the kitchen. Temari and Kankuro were sitting at the table eating cereal. I sat down and poured a bowl and ate. After we were done eating and cleaning the dishes we got ready to leave. The walk to school was a warmer one than normal because it was spring today and getting close to summer. It was sunnier out and it looked like it was going to be a good day because there weren't any clouds in the sky. We got to the school and Temari raced to the gym. I looked at the clock. It was a half an hour sooner then we got here all week. Temari wanted to leave sooner from home today because Tsunade was really mad that she was late getting here all week long. So she decided it was better to be early the last day then late the whole week. I sighed and went to my locker. I got my books for my first two classes; we were supposed to have classes for two hours and then the dance for the rest of the day. The two hours before would give the band extra time to set up and practice before everyone got there.

I went to my first class. Shino was already there. In fact, he was there before me every day. _Just when does this guy get to school? I'm a half hour earlier today._ I went to my desk and sat down. I put my head down and closed my eyes to sleep. _Someone will wake me up before class starts, right?_ I drifted off to sleep with my head on my text book.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I got to the gym and tossed my backpack off to the side. I've learnt during the week to have my stuff for the first half of the day already in my bag. I went over to Tenten, Hinata, and Tsunade. "I see you finally came on time," Tsunade said. I nodded. "Well I'm off then, Have fun finishing the decorating."

We were almost done the gym. We had the four big flowers in the corners of the gym, big bees and flowers on the walls, and the stage was set up to look like a giant mushroom. Along the bottom of the walls were long strips of green paper to make it look like grass, and we even put some blue and white paper on the roof to make it look like a sky with clouds. The bleachers were set up to look like grass hills, and the basket ball nets were covered in green with a long brown paper taped to look like a cylinder so they looked like trees. All we had left to do was set up the light that would go over the stage so it looked like a sun. Tenten Hinata and I took some yellow spray paint and spayed the black parts on the light yellow. Then we got the ladder and put it up on the stage. I climbed it and Hinata and Tenten held the bottom. When we had it up we turned off all the lights and just had that one on.

"Perfect, this is the best looking dance ever," Tenten said happily.

"Now we just need the band to set up and we'll be all set," Hinata said. We turned the lights back on and sat down in the bleachers.

Soon Deidara, Sasori, Kisame, and Itachi came through the gym doors with some of their equipment. "Hey girls," Deidara said waving at us.

"Just set up on that stage," Tenten said point to the middle on the gym were the stage was.

"You mean on the mushroom?" Sasori asked puzzled.

"Yes the mushroom," I said. "If you actually go up and look at it you'll see it's the stage." He went over and looked. Then he gave us a thumb up and started to set up his stuff. Tenten, Hinata, and I rolled our eyes.

In a few minutes they were almost done setting up. All they had to do was hook up and amps and then do some sound tests. "I see you girls are wearing the band's shirt," Deidara said as he finished with the microphone stand.

"Of cores we are," I said with a smile.

"I just thought you girls wouldn't because you don't want to be like everyone else in the school," he told me.

"Whatever," I said as the bell rang. I got up and went over to my backpack. Kisame was in the way of getting to it because he was fooling around with one of the speakers that were there. "Can you move for a secant so I can get my backpack?" I asked.

"Can I have another hug?" he asked with a smirk.

"No," I told him.

"Then no, I can't move. I'm busy," he told me.

"I'm going to be late for class and I need my stuff," I told him annoyed.

"No," he said again.

"Kisame, move," Itachi told him in a cold voice that made me and Kisame shiver. Kisame moved without saying anything. I grabbed my bag, said good-bye to everyone, and left for class.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

"This class is so boring without Tenten," Lee said when she wasn't there when class started.

"Why does it matter, we only have two classes without her. Then the dance, and then spring break," Neji told him.

"So you don't even care that your girlfriend isn't here?" Lee asked.

"Not really," he told him.

"I'm going to tell her you said that!" Lee yelled. "Then maybe she will dump you and date me!"

"That's about as likely as Hell freezing over," Neji told him.

"It is not!" Lee said angrily.

"You're right, it's less likely," Neji told him with a smirk.

"Guys stop fighting!" I yelled that them. The whole class was looking at them and the teacher had been trying to get them to stop for a while.

"Thank you Kankuro," the teacher said getting back to the lesion. Neji and Lee sank down into their seats embarrassed.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I was awoken by Kiba hitting me on the head. "What the hell man," I said glaring at him.

"Nothing else was working, it was a last resort," Kiba told me.

"Actually, it was the first thing you tried," Naruto pointed out.

"Shut up, he doesn't need to know that," Kiba told him through gritted teeth.

"Too late," I said with a yawn. "Now I'm going to have to beat you up, and just before the dance too."

"No, I'm sorry!" Kiba yelled. I laughed.

"I was just kidding," I told him. He gave a sigh of relief.

"Nice one," Sasuke said high-fiving me.

"Hey, how come I never get high-fives?" Naruto asked pouting.

"Because you're not cool," Sasuke told him.

"What, I am too cool!" Naruto yelled.

"Sure you are," Kiba said rolling his eyes.

"I am!" he yelled. Kiba, Sasuke, and I laughed at him. He crossed his arms and stormed off to his desk.

"Come on Naruto, we were just kidding," Kiba told him. Naruto stuck his noise in the air.

"You're such a chick," Sasuke told him.

"I am not!" he yelled at him.

"Whatever Naruto," I said as the teacher came into the room.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I got to class just as the second bell rang. "You were almost late," Shikamaru told me as I sat down. "You're usually early."

"Yeah, well I had to finish setting up and then Kisame wouldn't get out of the way so I could get my bag," I told him.

"Kisame?" he asked razing an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we had to help The Akatsuki set up their stuff," I told him. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Fine, we didn't help, we watched," I told him. "And Hinata and Tenten are missing classes to stay in the gym. So be happy I even came."

"Sorry, I just thought that it wasn't like you to be late," he said with a sigh. I stuck my tongue out at him. "You seem a little mad today," he said.

"No, I just don't want to be in class, I want to be in the gym," I told him.

"Then why did you come?" he asked.

"Because I wanted to be with you," I told him with a smile. He blushed.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

The bell rang and we went to our next class. When we got there and everyone sat down I noticed Ino, Shino, and Chouji weren't there. Naruto had apparently noticed too, because he asked where they were. "How am I supposed to know?" Kiba asked. "I don't talk to them."

"I was just wondering," Naruto told him. "Come to think of it, Hinata's not here either."

"Did you just notice that?" Sasuke asked.

"No, I knew before," he said a little embarrassed.

"She's in the gym finishing setting up," I told him.

"Well I could have been told that sooner," he said.

"I thought you knew she was gone," Sasuke said raising an eyebrow.

"I did, I just didn't know where she was," he said pouting. We rolled our eyes. "You guys are meaner to me today than normal," Naruto said with a frown.

"Yeah, why is that?" Kiba asked.

"Well I'm always like this to him, so I wouldn't know," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"It's just you that's meaner to him today, Kiba," I said.

"Oh, well I don't know," he said.

"It's probably because you miss Hinata and now you're taking it out on me," Naruto told him with a smirk.

"Whatever," Kiba said blushing a little.

"Don't worry, you'll get to see her after this class," I told him. He mumbled something under his breath as the teacher walked in.


	30. The Breakup

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

We got let out of class early so we could get ready for the dance. Lee, Neji, and I headed to the place we were going to meet the others by the gym. When we got there Tenten and Hinata were waiting. "You guys skip class or something?" Tenten asked raising an eyebrow. "There's still twenty minutes left."

"No, the teacher let us out early," I told her.

"That was my second guess. You guys are too good to skip," she said teasingly.

"Oh Tenten, guess what Neji said!" Lee yelled.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing now shut the hell up Lee!" Neji told him. "No one wants to listen to you."

"No, I want to know now," Tenten told him. "What did he say Lee?"

"He said he didn't care if you were in class with us or not! He doesn't love you!" Lee yelled. A few grade twelve's going to the bathroom gave us weird looks as they walked by.

"What, you don't love me Neji?" Tenten asked pouting and getting really big puppy dog eyes.

"No, I didn't say that," he told her. "I said I didn't care that you weren't in the class _because_ I was going to see you soon."

"Fine," Tenten said with a sigh. "I guess with you that's a good thing."

"What, no it's bad! Dump him and get a new boyfriend that will be better to you!" Lee yelled. The same grade twelve's, walking back to class, gave us weird looks again.

"And who do you have in mind, Kankuro?" Tenten asked him.

"Oh no, you keep me out of this," I said backing away over to Hinata, who was keeping her distance because of Lee's first outburst.

"No, I thought maybe me," Lee told her. Tenten laughed. "That's kind of a harsh reaction," he said.

"Sorry, it's just that we've been friends for so long and everything. I just can't see myself dating you, you're my best friend," she told him.

"I told you she wouldn't dump me for you," Neji laughed.

"Oh well, being a best friend is the second best thing, right? I'm ok with that," Lee said with a smile. Neji rolled his eyes.

"So what are we going to do now?" I asked.

"Sit here and wait for a few more minutes until the others get her," Tenten said.

"Or we could go listen to the band practise and then come back out later," Hinata said finally feeling it was safe to talk. We all agreed that was a good idea. We went into the gym and sat down on the grass hill. As we listened to The Akatsuki play, we complemented Tenten and Hinata on their hard work in decorating the gym. It looked fantastic.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke, and I got to where we were supposed to meet at the gym, but no one was there. "I hear music," Naruto said.

"Yeah, that's the band practising," Sasuke told him.

"Maybe Tenten and Hinata are still in there," Kiba said.

"Probably, so let's just wait out here like we are supposed to. The others still need to get here anyways," I told them. They agreed. So we sat down on the bench that was just outside the gym and waited.

A few minutes later Tenten, Hinata, Kankuro, Lee, and Neji came out of the gym. "So there you guys are," I said.

"Yeah, we went into listen while we waited and lost track of time," Tenten told me.

"A likely story," Kiba said. Neji rolled his eyes at him.

"So where's the other two?" Kankuro asked.

"Probably somewhere making-out," Naruto said with a smirk. We all looked at him.

"You're being more of an idiot today than normal," Sasuke said smacking him upside the head. Naruto glared at him and rubbed his, now really sore, head.

"I'm sure they're coming, they probably got let out late," Hinata said.

"Or got a bunch of homework dumped on them because its spring break," Neji said.

We waited a few more minutes. The junior high kids started to file into the gym, but none of the high school kids could be seen. We watched the kids going into the gym, and that's when I noticed Ino, Shino, and Chouji also hadn't walked in. "Be on the lookout guys," I said. "I think Ino, Shino, and Chouji are planning something."

"Why would you say that?" Naruto asked.

"Well isn't it obvious? They weren't in class and they never went in the gym with the other kids. And Ino is so jealous because she knows the dance looks great and hers sucked. They're probably going to wreck it so that no one trusts Hinata, Tenten, and Temari with decorating dances and stuff anymore," Kiba told him.

"I guess," he said.

"Well we'll just keep an eye on them then," Kankuro said.

**Temari P.O.V.**

After what seemed like forever we finally got let out of class. "The dance has already started," I said with a sigh.

"Yeah, well they needed to give us time to do our work. Did you want a load of homework over spring break?" Shikamaru asked.

"I guess not," I said as we got to my locker. I put my bag away and then we went to Shikamaru's locker so he could put his stuff away.

As we walked to the dance we saw Ino, Shino, and Chouji sneaking around the hallway. I pointed them out to Shikamaru and then told him to fallow my lead. We went up behind them hiding behind a trashcan. They were talking about their plan to wreck the dance. I got up and went up behind Ino. "Hey Ino, what are you doing?" I asked. She jumped and then turned at glared at me.

"None of your business," she said angrily as Shikamaru came up behind me.

"Oh, but isn't it? I heard you talking about the dance and how great you think it looks. So great you want to wreck it," I said.

"Are you kidding, I think it's horrible," she told me.

"Well whatever you think it is, you guys can't wreck it," I told them.

"Why can't we?" Shino asked. Chouji didn't say or do anything; he just looked at the floor once he noticed Shikamaru was with me.

"Because if you wreck the dance, than you're wrecking The Akatsuki's concert, and if you wreck the concert you're wrecking Ino's chance with Deidara," I told him.

"I can just say you did it," she said with a smirk.

"Why would he believe that I wrecked something that I worked so hard on to make? No, I think he would figure you did it more than me," I told her smiling sweetly.

"Don't give me that innocent smile," Ino said angrily.

"I'm only trying to help," I told her sweetly.

"Whatever," she said. "Come on guys.

"No need to hurry off," Shikamaru told her. "We're going the same way, let's walk together."

"Yes, let's," I said happily walking right beside Ino to the gym with Shikamaru right by me. We got to the gym and everyone was waiting for us. We went over to then and watched Ino, Shino, and Chouji go in. "Bye new best friends!" I said waving at them with a smile. Ino glared at me and disappeared into the darkness.

"New best friends," Gaara said confused. I laughed.

"They were planning to wreck the dance but Shikamaru and I stopped them. And then we walked with them here from all the way at the other end of the school," I said.

"Nice," Kiba said giving me a high-five. "I bet she's really mad."

"Oh she is," Shikamaru told him. "Anyways, shall we go?" Everyone nodded and we headed into the gym.

The Dance was really fun, the music was good, and Ino and her friends ended up sitting on the grass hill the whole time. And even though it was The Akatsuki playing, everyone agreed that they were good and that they would buy a CD when one came out. It wasn't until halfway through the dance that Shikamaru said he needed to go. "Why?" I asked over the music. He didn't say anything. He just grabbed my hand and dragged me into the hallway. "What's going on?" I asked.

"You remember how you asked me what was going that one day?" he asked. I nodded. "Well what was wrong was that..." he trailed off.

"What just tell me," I said.

"I just want you to know that I never told you so that we could have a fun week, and fun at the dance until I needed to leave," he said.

"Shikamaru what's wrong, why are you holding off on telling me?" I asked.

"Ok, here it is," he said. "I'm moving."

"So, what's wrong with that?" I asked confused.

"What I mean is," he said taking a deep breath. "I'm moving to Suna."

"What? No you're not, that's like five days away from here by car!" I yelled.

"My dad wants to open a shop there too so we can get more money, but the thing is he has to move there and start it up. We have enough people working at this store to let it run without him now, so we are moving to Suna to start that one up," he told me.

"No, you can't move! Stay here with me, Gaara, and Kankuro!" I yelled tears filling my eyes.

"I can't, my dad wants me to help run the shop there. We're leaving today. I didn't want to tell you until now because I didn't want you to have a bad week. I wanted us to have fun with the rest of the time we had together," he told me. I shook my head.

"You should have said sooner! Sure it wouldn't have been that much of a fun week, but it wouldn't have been so hard for me!" I yelled at him.

"Then I guess you're going to hate the next part," he said.

"W-What else is there?" I asked even though I knew what was coming next.

"A long distance relationship might be hard," he said. I started to get more tears. "So I'm breaking up with you."

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I noticed Temari and Shikamaru had left the dance. "Where did they go?" I asked Hinata who was the one closest to them.

"Uh, Shikamaru grabbed Temari's hand and dragged her into the hallway," she told me over the music.

"Do you know what he wanted?" I asked.

"No, but I'll go look," she told me. "I'll be right back." I started to follow her, but Kankuro stopped me.

"Let her just go. She's Temari's best friend. Temari and Shikamaru won't care if she sees them doing anything out there, but if you see than it might blow up and turn into a big fight," he told me.

"Yeah, you're right," I said.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I started to cry. I put my face in my hands and fell back onto the bench that was there. Shikamaru hugged me. "I don't know when I'll be back," he said.

"Don't touch me! I liked you, and then you had to go and do this to me! I would have liked more than just a five second notice!" I yelled at him pushing him away. "Just go, get out of here! Go to your stupid Suna with your stupid parents, and open your stupid store!" He sighed.

"I know you don't mean any of that," he told me. I never said anything. "Temari," he said. I glared at up him. "I love you."

My eyes went wide and my anger turned into sadness again. "I-I love you too," I said. He leaned in and hugged me again. This time I hugged back. We hugged for what seemed like forever, and I wish it had been, but soon Shikamaru broke it.

"I'll see you around," he said. I could tell he was holding back tears now too.

"No you won't," I told him. He gave a little chuckle.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he said with a sad smile. He turned his back to me and started to walk down the hallway. As he walked he started to wipe his eyes with his sleeve. When he was finally out of sight I started to cry, hard.


	31. The School's Roof

**Temari P.O.V.**

I sat on the bench for a few minutes having a good cry. I didn't even look up when I heard the gym door open. I heard footsteps come over to me and felt someone sit down by me. "Are you alright?" the person asked. I looked up and saw Hinata. "What's wrong Temari?" Hinata asked.

"H-He's gone," was all I could say.

"Who's gone?" she asked.

"H-He left me. H-He broke up with me and left!" I yelled putting my face in my hands again. Hinata didn't say anything more. She just sat there and hugged me.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Gaara, Naruto, Sasuke, Lee, Kiba, and I were sitting in the bleachers now talking. We got tired of standing and we weren't going to dance anyways. "Why does she always dance with Neji? Why doesn't she ever dance with me?" Lee asked crossing his arms as he watched Neji and Tenten dance.

"Because you're not the one she's dating, you idiot," Kiba told him.

"So, I'm her best friend! I should get to dance with her!" he yelled.

"Wouldn't that be a little weird though? Dancing with your best friend?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, that would be like," Kiba paused for a second. "Naruto and Sasuke dancing together," he told Lee.

"Yeah, I guess I get what you're saying," Lee said with a sigh.

"What would be wrong with Naruto and Sasuke dancing together?" Gaara asked.

"I would be weird," I told him.

"Yes, it would be," Sasuke said glaring at Kiba. Kiba gave him a 'what?' look.

"I bet Naruto can't even dance anyways," Lee said.

"I can too dance!" Naruto yelled.

"Sure you can," Kiba said rolling his eyes.

"I can!" he yelled.

"Prove it then," Gaara said.

"Fine!" he yelled standing up. Then he paused and sat back down. "I have no one to dance with though," he said. Everyone burst out laughing.

"Why don't you dance with Sasuke?" I asked. This made everyone, excluding Sasuke and Naruto, laugh even more.

"You guys sicken me," Sasuke said.

"Relax we're just joking around. You don't have to take us seriously, especially Kiba, Lee, and Naruto," I told him.

"Hey!" they yelled at me. Gaara, Sasuke, and I laughed.

We talked like that for a few minutes before Neji and Tenten finally came for a break from dancing. Neji practically fell on the seat beside me. "She didn't want to stop," he said of breath.

"I was having fun!" Tenten yelled pouting. She looked around. "So Hinata's not back yet?" she asked.

"No, and I've been wondering if her, Shikamaru, and Temari are ok," I said looking at the gym door.

"I'm sure they'll be back soon," Naruto said. "Then Kiba can go dancing with Hinata."

"Yeah, because I can dance," Kiba told him. Everyone burst out laughing, except Neji and Tenten who were completely out of the loop, and Naruto who didn't find it funny at all.

"You guys are so mean, I can dance!" Naruto yelled at us.

"Whatever, let's just not start this again," Sasuke said with a sigh. So we started talking about other things.

**Temari P.O.V.**

Hinata and I sat there for a long time in silence with me crying. Once it seemed like I was all out of tears I whipped my eyes with the sleeve of the sweater I was wearing. I sat up, took and deep breathe, and let it out. I stood up and motioned for Hinata to follow me. We went to the washroom and I washed my hands and face with warm water. "Are you ok?" Hinata asked finally.

"Yeah, I think I'll be alright now," I said with a sigh and a slight smile.

"That's good," she said. "So what do you want to do?"

"I think I'm just going to walk around for a bit," I told her.

"Would you like me to come?" Hinata asked. I shook my head.

"No, you go have fun at the dance, I'll be fine. It's going to be lunch in a few minutes anyways," I told her. She nodded and without saying anything else and left.

A little while after she had gone I left the bathroom and walk around the school. I went around the first floor, and then the second floor. When I got the end of the second floor hallway I saw a door I hadn't noticed before. I turned the door knob. It was open. I looked around to make sure no one was there, and went in the room. I was dark, but I could see light coming from under another door that was at the top of an outline of some stairs. I went to the top and found the door knob to that door and opened it. When I opened it all I could see was a light. I stepped into it and blinked. I looked around and saw that I was on the roof of the school. I went to the edge and looked down. There was no one around and only one car. It had just pulled up. Someone got out. "Sorry for forgetting some stuff, I'll be back soon!" a boy yelled. As he got closer to the building I saw that it was Shikamaru. I backed away from the edge. I didn't want him to see me, he was supposed to be gone by now. I went and sat down against the wall of what looked like a little room, but was actually the stairwell I had come up from. I sighed and looked up at the clouds my eyes filling with tears again.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

Hinata came back and found us in the bleachers. "Hey Hinata, were have you been?" Kiba ask.

"Oh, I was with Temari," she told him.

"Where is she now?" I asked.

"I don't know, she said she was going to go for a walk," she told me.

"Wanted to be alone with Shikamaru, huh?" Naruto asked winking. Hinata shook her head. We all looked at her confused.

"It's nothing," she assured us.

"Well, do you want to go dance then?" Kiba asked her blushing slightly. Hinata, however, turned really red.

"S-Sure," she said. Kiba smiled and him and Hinata got up and went onto the dance floor.

Tenten looked at Neji. "What?" Neji asked.

"You had enough rest, let's go dance some more," Tenten said. Neji sighed, but got up and went with her on the dance floor.

"Have fun with that lover boy!" Kankuro yelled. Neji glared at him.

"I still want to dance with her!" Lee blurted out. Luckily Tenten and Neji were already gone somewhere on the dance floor and never heard.

"We already went over this," Sasuke told him. "Don't bring it back up."

"You just don't want us talking about you and Naruto again," I said. He glared at me.

"They're just really good friends," Lee said. "Stop bugging them."

"But it's fun," I said. Naruto looked at me with big puppy dog eyes. I sighed. "Fine, I'll stop," I said. Naruto smiled.

"Wow, hardly anyone can get Gaara to do what they want," Kankuro said.

"Shut up," I said. "Naruto was annoying me until I stopped."

"I was not being annoying!" Naruto yelled.

"I know how you feel," Sasuke said with a sigh.

"I'm not annoying!" Naruto repeated.

"Naruto is just expressing himself," Lee said.

"Well he needs to stop it," I said. Sasuke and Kankuro laughed.

We talked for a while and eventually the conversation went back to Naruto and Sasuke. "What's wrong with you guys? Why are you brining this up so much today?" Naruto asked pouting. "We are really good friends, that's all! You guys are so weird!" Sasuke stood up.

"I'll be back later," he said.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked.

"None of your business," Sasuke said.

"I want to know too," Lee said.

"I'm getting away from you guys, you're starting to make me mad," Sasuke said plainly. "Good-bye."

"Now look what you guys did! You made Sasuke mad!" Naruto yelled as Sasuke opened the door to the gym and left.

"Us, you're the annoying one!" Kankuro yelled.

"Will you guys just be quiet for a few minutes, maybe I actually want to hear the band for a while," I told them. "You haven't shut up once since we sat down." They sighed and turned to watch the band. _Ha, I always get my way._ I grinned.

**Temari P.O.V.**

After a few minutes of sitting there I heard the door to the stairs open up. I looked and saw Sasuke step out from it. "What are you doing here?" I asked. My eyes were all red again from crying.

"I should be asking you the same thing," he said walking over to the edge.

"I just found the door here and wanted to know that was up the stairs," I told him.

"So you came and looked and decided to stay?" he asked looked at me for the first time since walking through the door. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing," I said with a sigh and a fake smile. He shook his head. "What about you? You still never told me why you're here," I said.

"Your brother and his friends piss me off, nothing new really," Sasuke said. "I always come here when I need to get away from stuff," he added.

"Oh, what were they doing now?" I asked.

"I rather not say," he said coming back by the door. He lay down with his hands behind his head and one leg crossed over the other, and looked up at the sky.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes. "So why were you crying?" Sasuke asked finally.

"What?" I asked forgetting that he was there for a second.

"Your eyes are all red, why were you crying? And where's Shikamaru?" he asked.

"Oh, no reason," I told him. "And Shikamaru, he's on his way to Suna right now."

"Did he break up with you then?" Sasuke asked. I didn't say anything. "So he did?" he asked again.

"Yeah," I said holding back tears. Sasuke looked at me.

"He's a jerk anyways," he told me. I looked at him confused. "When did he tell you he was going to Suna?" he asked.

"Right before he broke up with me," I told him on the edge of crying.

"Exactly, if he wasn't a jerk he would have done all that sooner so it wasn't so hard for you to deal with," he told me.

"Yeah, but he said he wanted our last few days together to be fun," I told him.

"That was just an excuse because he didn't know what you were going to do to him once he broke up with you. He wanted to tell you he was leaving, break up with you, and just go without you doing something to him," Sasuke told me.

"Yeah, you're probably right," I said with a sigh. "He said he didn't know when he would be back."

"You know Deidara is going to be all over you once he finds out Shikamaru is gone and broke up with you right?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said with a sigh. "Maybe I should give him another chance then, right?" Sasuke got up and went over to the door.

"I don't really care what you do," he told me. "I'm going back to the dance, you coming? It's almost lunch and everyone is worried about you. Hinata came back without really saying anything." I nodded and got up and followed Sasuke. _Wow, Sasuke can be really caring when he wants to be, even though he tries not to show it._


	32. Dating

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I saw light coming from the gym doors and looked over there. Sasuke and Temari were coming in. I got up and went down the stairs of the bleachers. "Where are you going?" Kankuro yelled after me. I just pointed at the doors and he, Naruto, and Lee looked over there. They got up and followed me.

We got over to Temari and Sasuke so fast they barely had time to get through the door. "Where have you been?" I asked them.

"I needed to get away from you guys," Sasuke said pushing us out of the way and going back to the bleachers.

"Hey, wait up!" Naruto yelled after him, and followed.

I turned and looked around Temari. "Where's Shikamaru?" I asked.

"He's gone somewhere," Temari said trailing off.

"Is he coming back?" Kankuro asked. She shook her head.

"Why not, where did he go?" Lee asked.

"I'll tell everyone when we go sit down. Hinata already knows. Go get every," Temari said and walked away over to Sasuke and Naruto. So Kankuro, Lee, and I went and got Hinata, Kiba, Neji, and Tenten. When we got back to where we were sitting before, Temari looked like she was almost in tears.

"What's wrong?" Tenten asked. Temari sighed. She calmed herself, and then told us about what had happened.

"What, he can't just do that to you!" I yelled.

"It's ok, really, I'll get over it," Temari said trying to hold back tears.

"But you two were like, inseparable!" Tenten said angrily taking out her cell phone. "I'm going to get my mom and dad to get you and me on a plan, and we are flying down to Suna to talk to him!" Temari shook her head and closed Tenten's phone on her.

"No, if he wants to be like that then let him. It's his parents fault for making him go anyways," she told her.

"Yeah, but he didn't have to break up with you. We should all get on a plain and have a little talk with him," I said clenching my fists.

"No, I'm not going down to Suna, and you're not going to Suna either. A talk for you is beating him up," she told me angrily. I sighed.

"Well what are you going to do no then?" Tenten asked.

"I don't know, I don't even know when he's going to be back," Temari said with a sigh.

"You could always date someone else," Kiba said. Everyone looked at him. "What, it was just a thought," he said, I glared at him.

"Can't you see she is really sad right now?" Tenten asked angrily.

"That was a really stupid thing to say," Neji told him. Kiba opened his mouth to say something, but Temari stopped him.

"I might actually find someone else," she said. "At least until Shikamaru gets back. And anyways, his being away will get me a chance to find out how I really feel about him."

"That's the spirit!" Naruto yelled. "Now let's go find you a new guy!"

"I vote me!" Lee yelled. Everyone looked at him now.

"What did you say?" I asked glaring at him and cracking my knuckles.

"Nothing, I said nothing!" he yelled in a scared voice. "I like Tenten anyways!"He grabbed Tenten's arm.

"Get away from my girlfriend," Neji said in a cold voice. Lee let go and moved two seats over.

Sasuke sighed and looked at the time. "What's wrong, Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"You guys are really annoying, and it's almost lunch," he replayed.

"We should get to the lunch room before the big rush then," Kankuro said. We nodded and got up and headed to the lunch room.

When we got there, there was no one in the room. They were all at the dance. We got in line and got our food, and sat down at our usual table. The bell rang as soon as we sat down, and a rush of people started to come in. The Akatsuki came in last and a big cheer went through out the lunch room. They just laughed and went and sat down. "Now's a good time to go ask him if you're going to," Sasuke said to Temari.

"Ask who what?" I asked.

"Nothing," Temari told me. I raised an eyebrow.

"So Sasuke gets to know but I don't?" I asked.

"Well if you knew you would get mad," she told me.

"Oh, I want to know what it is too now," Kiba said with a smirk. Everyone else nodded. Temari sighed.

"I wanted to ask Deidara out again," she said. My mouth dropped.

"Weren't you the one who broke up with him though?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, but he's different now. He's changed for the better," Temari told him.

"How do you know, maybe he was lying to get you back," I told her.

"See, this is why I don't tell you these things. You get so over protected," she said frowning.

"Well sorry, it's just that last time I checked he was a drunk weirdo, with crazy friends," I told her angrily.

"I told you he's changed, plus he's been doing everything he can to get me back," she told me crossing her arms.

"Ha! So he was trying to get you back all this time, like we said!" Naruto yelled.

"So what, I just told you guys he wasn't because I didn't want you bugging him," Temari told him. "But it doesn't matter. I'm going to talk to him."

"Isn't that kind of cheating on Shikamaru though?" Neji asked.

"No, Shikamaru broke up with me and left the city. He practically gave me full rights to date who ever I wanted while he was gone," she said getting up.

"No, don't go talk to him," I told her.

"I don't care what you all say. Deidara is a good person, and I'm going to get back with him," Temari told us. "I think I made a mistake in breaking up with him so soon."

"But when Shikamaru does get back you're going to be really confused on what you really want again," Kankuro told her.

"I don't even know when he's getting back though. He might not be back for years," she said tears building up in her eyes. I sighed.

"Fine, go talk to him. But none of us are helping you this time when you are confused on what you really want," I told her. Temari just nodded and walked over to where The Akatsuki was sitting.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I walked swiftly over to Deidara. "I need to talk to you," I told him.

"What's wrong?" he asked as the other guys at the table looked up at me.

"Wow, where you crying or something?" Kisame asked. Sasori elbowed him. "What was that for?" he asked angrily.

"You don't ask girls about stuff like that in that way," Sasori told him.

"I'll ask questions in whatever way I want!" he yelled at him.

"Sasori's right Kisame, now shut up," Itachi told him. Kisame sighed and went back to eating.

Deidara got up and followed me outside the lunch room. "What's wrong?" he asked. I took a deep breath and let it out.

"Shikamaru broke up with me, and moved to Suna," I told him tears filling my eyes. He grabbed me and hugged me.

"Tell me all about it," he said holding me in a caring way. So I told him what had happened.

"That wasn't very nice of him to end it like that," Deidara told me. "Right before he had to leave." I didn't say anything I just cried into him chest. Then I looked up and him.

"I wanted to ask you something," I told him.

"What?" he asked.

"Will you go out with me again?" I asked. He smiled.

"Of cores I will, but are you ready to? I mean you should get a little bit over Shikamaru first," Deidara told me.

"I guess," I said.

"How about you think it over some more and then ask me again at the end of the day," he said. I nodded. "Now you should get back to your friends," he told me. "And I have to go back to the band, and help get ready for after lunch." I sighed and nodded again. We walked into the lunchroom together, but went to our separate tables.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Temari got back but Gaara, Kiba, Hinata, Sasuke, and Naruto had left. "Where did they go?" she asked when she got back.

"They went for a walk. Gaara needed to cool down, Sasuke wanted to get away from everyone, Naruto being Naruto followed him, Kiba went to make sure Gaara didn't go kick a puppy or something, and Hinata left to make sure Kiba wasn't really going to help Gaara kick puppies," I told her. She gave a little smile.

"Kiba wouldn't go kick a puppy; I mean he has one of his own. I don't know about Gaara though," she laughed.

"Kiba would probably kick a fire hydrant and hurt his toes," Neji said smirking. Tenten, Kankuro, Lee, and I burst out laughing.

"Nah, Hinata will make sure they don't hurt themselves," Temari told him.

"Anyways, you seem kind of better, what did Deidara say?" Lee asked.

"He said to think it over first and ask him again at the end of the day if I still wanted to," she said with a sigh.

"Well I guess it's good that he's not just saying sure, and jumping into it. He's at least thinking about you," Tenten said.

"Yeah, I guess," Temari said with a sighed. "Well I better go find Gaara." We nodded, and she got up to go look for him.


	33. Sigh's All Around

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I walked with Kiba and Hinata down the sidewalk. "You have to stop worrying about this, Temari will be fine," Kiba told me. I didn't say anything. I just stuffed my hands in my pockets. "Come on Gaara, tell me you'll stop worrying about it," Kiba said.

"Leave him be for a while," Hinata said. "He probably doesn't want to talk about it." She was right; I didn't want to talk about it. I didn't even know why I was mad. It would be her fault if she got hurt again. But I guess I was still in parenting mode, since I had been for the past few years. I sighed and started to walk into the school's field, Hinata and Kiba followed. We walked to the other end of the field away from the school, and sat down in the grass.

"Gaara, are you going to talk about this or what?" Kiba asked. I just sighed and fell back onto the grass and looked up at the sky with my hands behind my head. Kiba shook his head and lay down to look at the sky too. Hinata just leaned back onto her hands.

After a few minutes I finally sat up and looked at Kiba and Hinata. "You know you guys don't have to sit out here with me. The dance will be starting soon, you could go back and have some fun," I told them. Kiba gave a little smile.

"What kind of friends would we be if we just let you sit out here and sulk?" he asked. Hinata nodded.

"We rather sit out here and make sure you're ok," she told me. I just gave a little chuckle and shook my head.

"What's so funny?" Kiba asked.

"I'll never get why you two want to sit out here and waste the time you could be together dancing with me," I told him.

"Because we're your friends, and we don't want you to be lonely," Hinata said. I smiled a little and went back to looking at the sky.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I walked around looking for Gaara for a few minutes. I couldn't find him anywhere. As I was heading back to the school I saw some people at the other end of the field, so I decided to go look to see who it was. When I got close enough I saw that it was Gaara, Kiba, and Hinata. I went up to them. "I been looking all over for you guys," I told them.

"Why, we're fine," Gaara said.

"Because I was worried," I told him. "Are you guys coming back or not?"

"Why does it matter?" Gaara asked. I sighed.

"Gaara stop being like that," Kiba told him standing up. Gaara didn't say anything.

"If this is about me asking Deidara out then don't worry. He never even said yes, he said to ask again at the end of the day if I still wanted to," I told him. Gaara sat up and looked at me.

"Well I guess I can come back now," he said. I sighed and rolled my eyes. He stood up as Kiba helped Hinata up.

"Ok, the dance is starting up again soon. We did leave early for lunch, so everyone else is just finishing now," I told them. "We should be able to get back before the gym gets full, and then we won't have to fight our way through the people." The three of them nodded and followed me back to the school.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Lee, Tenten, Neji, and I got to the gym and looked around. Not even The Akatsuki were there getting ready yet. "I wonder if Temari found the other three," I said as we went back to the place we were sitting before.

"If not they will come back eventually," Neji said with a sigh.

"I want to know where Sasuke and Naruto went off to," Lee said.

"Oh I'm sure they'll show up, if Sasuke hasn't pushed Naruto off the roof that is," Tenten said thinking back to what happened to Sakura earlier in the year. Tenten and Lee shuddered.

"I don't think he will do that, after all he doesn't find Naruto that annoying," I told her. "He may be annoying, but not as much as Sakura was."

"That's true," she said. "Besides, Naruto is his best friend now. I mean now that Kiba is with Hinata, and he is living with him." Neji, Lee, and I nodded in agreement.

After a few minute The Akatsuki came into the gym and started getting ready for the next half of the dance. It had gotten pretty boring waiting for everyone. Tenten was almost asleep resting her head on Neji's shoulder, Lee had gone to ask if the band needed help, and Neji and I were talking about completely random things. Soon Lee came back and sat beside Tenten. "Tenten," he said poking her.

"Leave her alone Lee, she's tired," Neji told him.

"But I wanted to ask her something," he said. Tenten yawned and sat up.

"What?" she asked.

"Will you dance with me this time? I mean nothing big, just one song," Lee said in kind of a whinny voice. Tenten sighed.

"Will it get you to stop bugging me about it?" she asked. Lee nodded. "Fine, one dance and that's all," she told him.

"What?" Neji asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Don't worry, it's just one song. And we are friends, friends dance together once in a while," she told him.

"But you're my girlfriend, there is no need for you do dance with friends!" he said getting angry.

"Let it go Neji. You don't want Lee interrupting you guys the whole time asking her to dance with him, do you?" I asked.

"No, I guess not," he said under his breath. "But only one dance, nothing more." Lee nodded happily.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

We got back to the school and the halls were empty. As we walked by the lunch room we saw that it was still full, and the clock said we still had a few more minutes. "Where are the others?" I asked.

"Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Kankuro are probably in the gym, and I don't know where Naruto and Sasuke went off too," Temari told me.

"Sasuke and Naruto left the same time as us," Hinata said. "They never left the school though."

"I looked all over the school for you guys and I never saw them," Temari told her.

"Maybe they were in the washroom while you were looking," Kiba said shrugging.

We got to the gym and looked inside. Kankuro, Lee, Tenten, and Neji were sitting there, and The Akatsuki was setting up. "I'll be right back, I'm going to look for Naruto and Sasuke," I told Temari, Kiba, and Hinata.

"I'll go too," Kiba said. I let out a sigh.

"Relax. I actually plan on coming back this time. With or without them," I told him.

"Fine, go," he said. Temari, Kiba, and Hinata went into the gym, and I went to look down the hallways.

I found Sasuke and Naruto sitting together on a bench on the top floor in one of the senior's hallways. "What are you guys doing all the way over here?" I asked. Sasuke looked really pissed off and Naruto looked a little sad.

"Sasuke is being mean to me, he won't tell me wants wrong," Naruto whinnied.

"He's probably mad because you won't leave him alone," I told him. "I know how he feels," I said under my breath.

"Yes, thank you," Sasuke said in a really annoyed voice. "Now can you get him out of here?"

"But I don't want to go!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto, he wants to be alone for a bit. You see him every day, all day. Let's go," I told him. Naruto let out a big sigh, but got up anyways.

"I'll see you guys later then," Sasuke said in a kind of relieved way. "Thanks again Gaara." I nodded and Naruto and I went back to the gym.


	34. Dancing

**Temari P.O.V.**

Gaara came back with and angry Naruto a few minutes later. "I wanted to stay with Sasuke to make sure he was ok!" Naruto yelled as Gaara forced him to sit down.

"Like I said, he wanted to be alone," Gaara told him. Naruto turned to Kankuro.

"Talk some sense into your brother! Tell him to let me go see Sasuke!" he yelled at Kankuro. Kankuro sighed.

"If Sasuke wants to be alone you should let him, he never gets a break from you anyways," he told him. Naruto crossed his arms, looked at the two boys angrily, got up, went and sat at the top of the bleachers, and then dropped his head and sulked looking at the ground.

I sat there and watched as everyone ignored Naruto's sulking. I sighed, stood up, and went over to him. "What's wrong Naruto?" I asked sitting down by him. "I know this doesn't actually have anything to do with you wanting to see Sasuke." He looked up at me.

"I just don't want him to be alone. I don't want to be alone," he told me.

"You're not alone, we're all here," I told him.

"I know, but Sasuke is still alone," he said.

"He wants to be though, he'll be back soon. Sometimes people just want some time alone, to think about things," I said. He looked at me with a confused look.

"I never want to be alone, that's why I use to sleepover at Kiba's all the time. So I wouldn't have to stay in that small lonely house," he told me. I smiled. _He's so open. Does he tell everyone everything about himself?_

"Then why are you sitting up here all by yourself?" I asked. He just shrugged and sighed. "Well then come back down here with everyone," I told him.

"But they're boring right now. Plus they are kind of annoyed at me for bugging about Sasuke," he told me. I laughed.

"Do you want to go do something then?" I asked. He gave me a confused look again. "We can go dance with Hinata and Kiba," I told him. He let out a sigh.

"Fine," he said a little blush going across his face. I smiled and stood up. He stood up too, and we went down to get Hinata and Kiba.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Temari walked by Lee and me with Naruto close behind. "Where are you two going?" I asked a little confused.

"We're going to dance of cores," Temari said with a little smile.

"What, you and Naruto and going to dance together?" Lee asked shocked. Gaara, Kiba and Hinata looked over to them.

"No, we were going to dance with Hinata and Kiba," Temari told him.

"That's still dancing together," Gaara said.

"Yes, but I'm not going to be dancing with just him. Besides, group dancing is more fun." she told him. He sighed and Hinata smiled standing up.

"Come one Kiba, let's go dance with Naruto and Temari," he said. I saw Naruto blush a little and gave him a confused look. He turned away from me.

"Well if you guys are group dancing than I'm going to go get my dance with Tenten now," Lee said happily jumping up. "Neji probably needs a brake."

Tenten and Neji had left us to go dance as soon as Temari had come back with Hinata and Kiba, and never came back since. Temari sighed a little at Lee, but led him and the others down onto the dance floor. Gaara and I watched them disappear into the people, and then I turned to him. "Temari asked Naruto to dance?" Gaara asked angrily. "Is she going to date every boy in this school too?"

"Calm down Gaara. She probably asked him because his sulking got to her. And besides, he only said ok because he wants to dance with Hinata," I told him.

"What?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah, didn't you see him blushing when Hinata said she would dance with them?" I asked. He shook his head. "Well he was." Gaara gave a chuckle.

"I wonder how well this is going to go then," he said with a smirk.

Neji came and sat with us a few seconds later. He looked a little mad. "Stupid Lee trying to steal my girl away, well it's not going to work. She loves me," he mumbled as he sat down.

"Don't act so mad Neji, she doesn't actually want to dance with Lee, she's doing it so he'll shut up," I told him. He let out a sigh.

"I guess you're right, but I wish he would stop bugging us," he told me.

"Just beat him up," Gaara told him. Neji looked at Gaara.

"Are you kidding? I'd get my butt kicked. He's a higher level than me in martial arts," he told him angrily.

"So, at least it would be a good entertainment," Gaara told him. I gave Gaara a look and then turned to Neji.

"Don't listen to Gaara, no one's going to be fighting anyone," I said.

"I'd love to beat Lee up right now though," he said. I shook my head.

Lee and Tenten came back after the song that was playing was over. "Thank you Tenten!" Lee said happily hugging her.

"Yeah, yeah, but that was your only dance. Got it?" she asked shoving him away. Lee nodded. Then Tenten turned to Neji. "Coming to dance with me?" she asked. Neji nodded and went with her on the dance floor.

As soon as they left Lee's mood changed. He was sad again. "Tenten is such a good dancer, I wish we could do it again," he said with a sigh sitting down by me.

"You promised them you wouldn't bug her anymore about dancing," I told him.

"I know, but still," he said looking down on the dance floor.

"You could always beat Neji up," Gaara said. I looked at him.

"What's with you and getting people to beat each other up today?" I asked.

"I like to watch people fight when I'm mad about something," he told me shrugging.

"You're still mad about Temari asking Deidara out?" I asked. He nodded, and then looked at Lee.

"So how about it, you go beat Neji up so I have a show to watch and you can dance with Tenten," Gaara told him.

"I would, but he's my friend and that would just make Tenten hate me. Besides, he'd kick my butt. I may be a level higher than him in martial arts, but he's really good," Lee told Gaara. Gaara and I looked at each other and laughed. "What?" Lee asked.

"I told Neji to beat you up earlier because he was mad you were trying to steal Tenten from him, and he said that you would kick his butt," Gaara told him.

"He did?" Lee asked. Gaara and I nodded. "Maybe he would be worthy to fight after all," he said.

"Oh no, no one is fighting anyone," I told him.

"Of cores not," Lee said smiling. "But I can still ask for a friendly match with him when we go to martial arts lessons this weekend." Gaara smirked.

"Can I watch?" he asked.

"Gaara, you're not going to watch Lee and Neji fight," I told him. He sighed.

"I tried," he said looking back out onto the dance floor.

**Temari P.O.V.**

Hinata, Kiba, Naruto, and I danced together for a few songs. Then a slow song came and we stopped. "Well I've had enough dancing for now," I said smiling. "Thanks guys." Kiba sighed.

"You hate slow songs too?" he asked.

"Only when I'm dancing with friends," I told him.

"I hate them all the time," he said with a sigh. Naruto looked at him.

"Well then, maybe, just Hinata and I can dance this one?" Naruto asked. "That is if Hinata wants to dance with me." Kiba blinked at Naruto and looked at him confused.

"Uh sure, if Hinata wants to," Kiba said. "I don't care if you dance with my girlfriend for one dance, you are my best friend." Naruto smiled and looked at Hinata.

"Well?" he asked.

"Sure Naruto," she said smiling. Naruto started blushing as he took Hinata's hand, and Kiba looked at the two a little confused.

"You want to go back and rest a bit?" I asked Kiba. He nodded still giving a confused look to Naruto and Hinata, but followed me back to the bleachers.


	35. Getting Back Together, Stupid Popular's

**Gaara P.O.V.**

The dance was almost over now and lots of people had started taking breaks. Kiba was getting angry because most of the songs that were being played were slow songs, so Naruto and Hinata had been dancing for a while. He sat there with his arms crossed looking out on the dance floor. Then he turned to me. "Can I kill Naruto?" he asked. I looked at him.

"I don't really care. It would give me something to watch though," I told him.

"Kiba, you're not killing Naruto," Temari said.

"But he's been on the dance floor with _my_ girlfriend for over three songs now!" he yelled. Temari sighed.

"You said he could dance with her," she said.

"Yeah, but he was implying one song! Not every damn slow song that came on!" he yelled.

"Want me to go with you to find him?" I asked. "I'll help you beat him up."

"No Gaara, there isn't going to be any fighting," Kankuro said joining in the conversation. I sighed.

One song later Hinata and Naruto came back laughing and smiling. "Took you long enough," Kiba said. Naruto blushed.

"Hinata wanted to keep dancing with me since she knew you didn't like slow songs," he said. "She just didn't want to trouble you."

"A likely story," Kiba said standing up angrily.

"No, it's true Kiba. I asked him to keep dancing with me," Hinata said a little scared now.

"Whatever, come on Hinata, let go dance," he said. Hinata nodded and followed him down to the dance floor.

"What was that all about?" Naruto asked me.

"He was a little mad that you were dancing with his girlfriend," I told him.

"But he said I could!" Naruto yelled.

"Yeah, but you implied one dance," I told him. He sighed.

"So he's really angry?" he asked. I nodded. Naruto shook his head and slouched in his chair. "What am I going to do?" he asked.

"I don't know," I told him. I glance over and saw Temari standing up. She started walking towards us. She sat down beside Naruto.

"Naruto, do you like Hinata?" she asked. Naruto turned red.

"No, we're just friends. And she's Kiba's girlfriend," he told her. "I can't like her; if I did it would wreck our friendship." Temari just nodded and went back to where she was sitting with Lee and Kankuro.

**Temari P.O.V.**

A few minutes after I sat down with Kankuro and Lee, Sasuke came back. He went and sat with Naruto and Gaara. I watched them as they started talking, and soon it seemed like Naruto had cheered up. I looked over onto the dance floor. The Akatsuki had started playing a song, but so far there was no singing. I watched as Deidara got off the stage and left the gym. _This song must not have any singing at all._ I got up and headed for the stairs. "Where are you going?" Gaara asked.

"Uh, for a drink," I told him. He raised an eye brow at me, but didn't say anything. So I headed down the stairs and out the gym doors.

I found Deidara at the water fountain in the hallway getting a drink and I went over to him. "You know you can get sick from drinking out of water fountains," I said. He looked at me and smiled.

"Well I don't have any money for a drink from the vending machine," he told me. "So I guess I'll have to settle for a cold." I laughed.

"What happened to the money from the shirts?" I asked.

"Itachi took it all. He said he doesn't trust anyone with it, and that he is saving it so we can actually travel to all the places on those shirts this summer," he told me.

"Well I have some money," I said.

"I can't let you pay for my drink. That wouldn't be very gentlemen like," he said.

"Then how about I buy one for myself and give you half?" I asked.

"I guess that would be ok," he said with a smile.

We walked down the hallway together to the lunchroom. It was where the closest vending machine was, and it was also the cheapest one. The drinks in it only cost a dollar, where all the other ones in the school cost two. But I guess that's because this one came in cans, and people rather pay the extra dollar for the bottle. I put the money in the machine and pick a Pepsi. Deidara smiled. "Good choice, I like those too," he said and I blushed a little. Then I opened the can, and took a drink. We started walking back to the gym and I handed him the pop. "You only took one drink though," he said looking at the can.

"I wasn't really thirsty anyways. I actually just left the gym to see you," I told him. He looked at me. "And I've made up my mind too," I said. I looked up at him. "Deidara, will you go out with me again?" I asked. He looked at me for a few seconds.

"Are you sure that's what you want? Are you sure you're over Shikamaru?" he asked as he finished the pop and threw it into a nearby bin. Tiers started to fill my eyes.

"Why do you keep asking me that? I said I want to get back with you, and I mean it," I told him.

"I'm just not convinced that you're over him," he said. "What are you going to do if he comes back?"

"I don't even know when or if he's coming back! He didn't even know! He had no information or anything! He just broke up with me and left!" I yelled starting to cry. I stopped walking and fell to my knees. "I-I want to be with you Deidara. I realise that I might have made a mistake breaking up with you. And I broke up with you in a curl way. I know how you felt now, when I just broke up with you and left," I said looking up at him. He reached out a hand, and I grabbed it. Then he pulled me up into a hug.

"I really like you Temari, and if you're sure you want to get back with me, then I'll accept you as my girlfriend again," he said. I looked up at him still crying. He took his hand and whipped my tears away. "You don't need to cry anymore, I'm here now," he said. I buried my face in his chest and held tightly onto the front of his shirt.

Once I had calmed down Deidara and I went back to gym. "So I guess you have to go back and sing now," I said. He shook his head.

"They wanted to give me a break so I don't lose my voice for our consort tonight," Deidara told me. "They are letting me rest for a few songs. Right now they are just going to play some songs we just made but don't have words to yet." I looked up at him. "In other words," he said. "Would you like to dance?" I smiled and nodded.

We went out onto the dance floor and danced for a bit. Then another slow song came on. As we started to dance to it, Deidara looked down at me. "This feels like the last school dance we went to together," he said.

"Only this time I'm not breaking up with you, right?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I wasn't going to say that," he told me. "I was going to say. This time we know how to dance from gym, and it feels like a happier atmosphere." I smiled up and him, and we continued to dance.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I sat in the bleachers with Lee, Gaara, Sasuke, and Naruto. I felt like we were the only ones in the school not dancing. Even the teachers that were supposed to be supervising were dancing. I sighed as I watched everyone on the dance floor move slowly and in unison to the slow dance. "What's wrong, Kankuro?" Lee asked.

"Nothing, I'm just really bored sitting up here," I said.

"Are you calling us boring now?" Gaara asked.

"No, I'm just tired of sitting here," I told him.

"We could go for a walk," Sasuke suggested.

"You always what to go for a walk," Naruto pouted. "Why don't you ever want to do anything else?"

"Like what?" Sasuke asked. Naruto paused for a moment to think, and then shrugged. "Exactly," Sasuke said. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him and he just sighed.

"I could go for a walk," Lee said. "It will get our youthfulness going again." We gave Lee a weird look, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Alright then, let's go," I said standing up. The rest of the guys followed as I headed to the stairs and out of the gym.

We walked around the school for a little bit, avoiding the teachers' lounge and the principal's office. We were only allowed in the main hallway from the gym to the cafeteria during the dance because the teachers didn't want kids sneaking out and making trouble. We were all the way up stairs and in one of the grade twelve hallways when we heard voices. "Ino, can we go back now?" it was Chouji's voice.

"No, we weren't doing anything in the dance anyways. What's the point in going back?" she asked.

"But messing with peoples lockers is kind of boring too," he said.

"But it will be fun watching losers that wrecked my perfect school get in trouble," she told him.

"You mean those siblings?" Shino asked.

"Of cores those siblings, this school was my perfect creation before they came! Everyone knew their place in the school and kept it. The losers were the losers, the popular kids were the popular kids, and the kids in the middle had chances to change around. Sasuke was quiet and loved by all the girls, Hinata was popular and would never go out with a guy like Kiba, Tenten was a spy for us, and Sakura was still alive. Everyone stayed in their own age group, the rich kids stayed with the rich kids, the poor kids stayed with the poor kids, brothers and sisters never communicated with each other in school because of the age thing, and no one would be caught dead dating someone out of their age range innless it was a popular kid. It was the perfect school for people like us! But ever since those new kids came it's been slowly falling apart at our fingers! If we could just find a way to get at least one of them expelled, then the other two might back down. We could get this school back to the way it was," Ino told them.

I couldn't take it. I couldn't listen to this girl anymore. I clenched my fist and started to head in the direction of the talking. Everyone else seemed to feel the same way, since they followed me without saying anything to stop me. We turned a corner to see Ino, Shino, and Chouji playing around with one of the lockers. They were writing on it, and trying to unlock it. "You stupid blond which, what the hell are you doing?" I yelled at Ino. She looked up and me and the other boys scared, but didn't say anything. "I asked you a damn question, answer me!" I yelled at her again.

"Hey, don't yell at her like that!" Chouji said angrily.

"Shut up Chouji!" I yelled. "You know, Ino, if you weren't a girl I would have beaten the crap out of you by now!"

"Wow Kankuro, calm down, I've never seen you act like this before," Gaara said. "Besides, you never let me act this way." I turned around to him.

"I'm just pissed off! That girl is such an idiot! I hate people like her!" I yelled.

"Well well, it seems big brother here can't practice what he preaches," Ino said. I spun around angrily to face her and her friends. "If you don't allow your little brother to act in this manner, then why should you be able to? And to a girl none the less," she said with a smirk and put a hand on her hips. I clenched my fist, but Gaara put his hand on my shoulder to stop me. I took a deep breath and calmed down.

"You know, we really hate you Ino," Gaara said. Ino shrugged.

"I don't care what you think of me. I'm just trying to get the perfect school back that you wrecked," she told him.

"They didn't wreck anything," Lee said. "I'd say they fixed it." Naruto nodded.

"Oh who cares what _you_ think? You two are just saying that because you use to be lonely losers, and now you have a whole group of friends. Well you may be like that now, but the rest of the school is falling apart. And I'm sure Sasuke will agree that he is one of the people that had a much better life before those three losers came," Ino said.

"You're wrong, I don't agree with that at all," Sasuke told her. She looked at him in shock. "I always hated being a popular kid. I never wanted to be one, but you forced me into it. I would have much rather been with Kiba and Naruto all those years that you and Sakura were with me. Truth is I have fun with these guys, and can be myself around them. I could never do that with you and Sakura. You two always threatened to tell people things about me. You told me that if I didn't act the way you wanted me to, that you would tell everyone lies about me. You just wanted to be near me because it made you and Sakura look cool to be around someone like me. I hated every minute I was with you guys."

"But we made you popular. You could have any girl you wanted. You had tons of friends, and everyone looked up to you!" Ino yelled.

"Maybe so, but you two were annoying as hell. I would have much rather be a loser and have fun then be popular and hate my life," he told her. Ino crossed her arms and leaned onto one leg.

"Well it doesn't matter anyways," she said calming down. "Soon one of those three new kids will be expelled, and everything can go back to normal. Vandalizing school property is a big crime you know. And if they don't get expelled then the grade twelve's will have a few words for them."

"You're plan isn't going to work!" Naruto yelled angrily. Ino shrugged.

"And what are you guys going to do? You're the biggest losers out of your little group," she told him. Naruto clenched his fist.

"Hey, where are the others anyways?" Chouji asked staring at the group.

"Why do you care?" I asked.

"I was just wondering where Shikamaru was," he said a little more quietly.

"Why should we tell you? He told us the story about how you just left him," Gaara told him plainly. Chouji didn't say anything. He just looked at the floor.

"He's gone," Sasuke told him.

"What?" Chouji asked looking up at him.

"He moved to Suna," Sasuke told him. "He left just before lunch." Chouji looked to the floor with a sad look on his face.

"Why does it even matter, Chouji? He was a loser anyways, and you left him a long time ago to be with us. If anything you should be happy that he's gone. He's one less person we have to deal with," Ino told him. He didn't say anything. "Well anyways, since we've been found out we better go. We've done enough damage for now." Ino turned her back to us and motioned for Chouji and Shino to follow. Shino went right away, but Chouji never. He stood there for a few more seconds. Then Ino turned to him. "Chouji, hurry up or we'll leave you!" she yelled at him. He nodded and went running after them.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

Once Chouji, Ino, and Shino had turned the corner I went over to the locker they were at. I stared at it for a few moments and then started to laugh. "What's so funny?" Kankuro asked walking over to me. The other three followed.

"I don't get it," Lee said staring at it intensely. Naruto tilted his head in confusion, and Sasuke didn't say anything.

"I don't see how you find this funny," Kankuro said. "We can get in trouble for this."

"Don't you get it? It's so obvious we never did it. I mean who would be stupid enough write their own names on something they wrecked," I said pointing to mine, Kankuro's, and Temari's names scratched into the locker. "I knew Ino was an idiot."

"Well I guess we don't have to worry too much about this then," Kankuro said. "They'll probably be back with the principle soon though."

"We should probably leave then," Sasuke said. "We aren't supposed to be over here anyways."

"But I want to watch them make fools of themselves," I said a little disappointed.

"It's better if we're not here when they get back. Just in case the principle sees us," Kankuro told me. I sighed and nodded. If Ino, Chouji, and Shino were going to go get a teacher or the principle then they would be getting in trouble once they got here. We weren't supposed to leave the main hallway if we left the dance after all. And who ever followed them here would find it funny that they knew about it. So I followed Kankuro, Lee, Naruto, and Sasuke back to the gym.


	36. The Crime

**Temari P.O.V.**

I was sitting in the bleachers alone. Deidara had to go sing for the last few songs, and the guys had gone off somewhere. And when they got back The Akatsuki was on their last song and the bell for school to be over was about to ring. "Where have you guys been?" I asked when they sat down.

"We went for a walk," Sasuke told me. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why did you go for a walk?" I asked.

"Because we were bored," Gaara told me with a sigh looking out to the band.

"We met Ino, Chouji, and Shino on the way. They were vandalising lockers and stuff trying to get you and your brothers in trouble," Naruto said with a frown. I looked at Kankuro and Gaara.

"Don't worry. They'll be in more trouble than us. It was off in an area where we weren't allowed to be," Kankuro told me. I gave him a disappointed look and crossed my arms. He didn't say anything.

"Whatever, as long as you guys don't get in trouble for being over there, and we don't get in trouble for the lockers," I told him with a sigh.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

When the band was done playing the lights went on and the teachers were standing at all the doors out of the gym. The principle went up on the stage. Deidara handed her the microphone and backed away. Everyone went quiet and looked at her a little confused. Then she started to talk. "I hope you all had a great time at the dance today," she said with a smile. Everyone cheered. "Now I would like you all to give a big thanks to The Akatsuki for their great performance. That was a long show and they told me before the dance that they thought they might run out of songs to play. Usually there concerts wouldn't go so long, and they still have another performance tonight. So I hope you guys didn't tire them out too much," she told the school. Everyone cheered and clapped again. Once Tsunade got everyone quiet she spoke again. "Now as you know its weekend now, and spring break. That means there is only three months of school before the summer." Tsunade was cut off by a burst of cheering. It took a while, but she managed got their attention. "So anyways, I wanted to wish you all a good spring break. Have lots of fun because school starts again in a few weeks," she said happily. Then her expression changed. "But before you all go, I need these people to stay behind," she said a little angry. Everyone looked around and began to whisper. Tsunade took a deep breath and called out the names off a sheet of paper. "Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino, Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino, Rock Lee, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari," she sighed and then looked up at the rest of the students. "Everyone else can go." The gym slowly began to clear and the teachers watched every student carefully that were leaving to make sure the people that were called didn't leave too. I looked around and saw Kiba, Hinata, Neji, and Tenten. Neji pointed at him and the other three and at the door. I nodded and waved guessing that he meant they would wait outside the door for us. Then him and the other three disappeared into the people and left the gym.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I sighed and looked around at the now almost empty gym. The only people left were the teachers standing at the doors, Tsunade, the people that were called to stay, and The Akatsuki. "So I guess we aren't going to get off the hook for the lockers," I said. Temari stood up to go down to Tsunade.

"This isn't fair, I wasn't even there," she said angrily. Kankuro, Lee, Naruto, Sasuke, and I followed her down the bleacher stairs.

When we got to her Ino, Chouji, and Shino were there waiting already in front of an angry Tsunade. We stood behind them and listened to the conversation they were having with her. "Why are we getting in trouble, we were the ones that pointed the lockers out to you," Ino said angrily.

"That's exactly why you're here. You weren't supposed to be over in that area," she told her. Ino crossed her arms.

"So we do get to see them getting in trouble," I said in a whisper with a smirk.

"That's not funny Gaara. We're getting in trouble too, remember?" Kankuro told me in whisper back. I sighed.

Tsunade turned to us now. "These three said they found you guys in the hallways up stairs by the grade twelve lockers. They said that Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari were doing things to the lockers. Then they said they went back later and saw you guys showing Lee, Naruto, and Sasuke what you did. Then they said that they came to stop you guys and talk to you about it, but you threatened them," she said angrily. No one said anything so Tsunade continued. "I went to look at the lockers and your names were on some of them," she said. "I was just wondering one thing. Who in their right mind signs something they vandalize?"

"See, that's just the thing," I said getting brave. "If we did do it, why _would_ we put our names if we knew we could get in big trouble for doing something like that? We were framed."

"And who were you framed by?" Tsunade asked.

"Ino, Chouji, and Shino of cores, they _are_ the ones that say we were there doing it," I told her. Tsunade thought for a moment.

"Or you did do it and once you saw that we saw you and were going to tell on you, you signed your names to make it look like you were framed," Ino said crossing her arms with a smirk like she had just thought of the best come back ever.

"That's stupid," Temari said. "I have proof that I wasn't even there." We looked at her.

"Saying you went for a drink and when you came back we were gone isn't proof," I told her in a whisper. Kankuro elbowed me in the shoulder. I glared at him.

"Do you really have proof?" Tsunade asked. Temari nodded.

"Ask Deidara, I was with him," she told her. I glared at her now.

"You told me you were just going for a drink," I said. Kankuro elbowed me again and Temari sighed.

Tsunade turned to the Akatsuki. Itachi was sitting there glaring at Sasuke as Sasuke tried to hide himself behind Naruto trying not to look at his brother. But as soon as Tsunade looked over Itachi looked away from him and pretended to be doing something to help the band take down their things. "Deidara, can you come over here for a minute?" Tsunade yelled at him. Deidara looked at Itachi, and Itachi nodded. Then Deidara came over to where we were.

"What's up?" he asked. I glared at him and he gave me a small smile. Tsunade talked with him for a bit, and then sent him away. Then she turned back to us.

"Well it seems Temari was with him at the time," she said. Chouji and Shino started to not make eye contact with Tsunade and Ino crossed her arms angrily.

"See I told you we never did it," I told her. "Those three were lying." Tsunade shook her head.

"All that proves was that Temari wasn't there. That means they lied about one thing, and I trust their story less. It also means that Temari is no longer part of this. You may go," she said looking at Temari. Temari nodded. Then she gave the rest of us a little smile and left the gym.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I got into the hallway where Neji, Tenten, Kiba, and Hinata were waiting. When they saw me come out of the door they smiled a little. But then they frowned as they saw that the others weren't with me. "What's going on in there?" Kiba asked as soon as the door closed. "And why did you get to go?" I sighed and explained to him and the others about what the whole thing was about, and their frowns grew.

"They didn't do it though, right?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know, I wouldn't think they did it. I'm hoping that what they said was true and that Ino, Chouji, and Shino did it and framed them," I said.

"I'm sure they were framed. I mean they aren't stupid enough to sign their names. And why would they sign yours on it too if they did," Neji said.

"They wouldn't sign my name. They wouldn't even sign theirs. But Tsunade isn't convinced that it was the other three that did it," I told him.

"But she has proof that Ino, Chouji, and Shino were there. She had no proof that the others were there at all," Tenten said a little angry now.

"I know," I told her. "But I have no idea what Tsunade is thinking."

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

We stood there arguing about this matter with the popular kids for a few more minutes. "But why would we sign our own sisters' name?" Gaara asked. I nodded.

"We wouldn't want her to get in trouble for something we did," I said.

"Ha! So you agree you did it," Ino said happily.

"No we never," I said. "I'm just saying that we wouldn't sign her name on anything we did. And besides no one is stupid enough to sign their own names on something they did anyways."

"You have no proof we were even there," Gaara told Tsunade as he looked at her now. "You have proof those three were there, not us. They already lied about seeing Temari there. Their word shouldn't be worth much right now." No one said anything because there was nothing to say. There was no way to prove what Gaara said was wrong, and there was no way to back it up either. After a few second Sasuke broke the silence.

"And why are Lee, Naruto, and I even here? There is no proof we were there either. Like Gaara said Ino, Chouji, and Shino lied about Temari being there, so what else did they lie about? Our names aren't on anything, there is no evidence we were there watching or they were showing us it. There is no reason to keep us here," he said looking at Tsunade confidently.

"Fine, Lee, Sasuke, and Naruto, you may go too," she said.

"We'll wait for you two outside the gym," Naruto whispered to Gaara and I. And once the gym doors closed it was just Gaara and I against Ino, Chouji, and Shino.

**Temari P.O.V.**

Hinata, Tenten, Neji, Kiba, and I jumped when the gym door opened. We smiled as Sasuke, Naruto, and Lee came out. But then the door closed without Gaara and Kankuro coming out. "Where are my brothers?" I asked.

"They're still in there, but I'm sure they'll get out soon. Tsunade is starting to lean more in their favour," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Why, what happened?" Kiba asked. Lee and Naruto explained what had happened after I left.

"So, so far she thinks that Ino, Chouji, and Shino weren't telling the truth about two of the things they told her," Neji said as he thought. Naruto nodded.

"And she has proof that they lied about one thing. And the other she couldn't say if they lied or not. So she just said that we could go," Lee told everyone.

"So there are two strikes against them. One more and they'll get what they deserve for trying to get us in trouble," I said. Everyone's mood lightened a little and we watched the door quietly hopping to see Kankuro and Gaara come out next.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I stood there glaring at Ino, Chouji, and Shino. They tried to get us in trouble and it was slowly back firing on them. I could see them squirming trying to think of something to prove their lies were the truth. A smirk came across my face as they looked over at me and Kankuro, and they began to get nervous. _They should know by now that they can't beat us. They've been trying since we go here, and nothing has worked. We've slowly put them in their place._ I erased the smirked from my face and looked up at Tsunade as she began to speak. "I'm starting to think you three framed them," she said turning to Ino, Chouji, and Shino. "They have more proof that they never did it then you have that they did. All I have to go by is your word, and it has proven to be a lie once. And because of that I had to let Sasuke, Naruto, and Lee off the hook. There is no proof that they were there or not, just your word. But since it was wrong about Temari I had to let them go. They didn't even directly come out and say 'we weren't even there, those three are lying.' They just said that you could be lying about that too and there was no evidence. So since that was true I had to let them go." Tsunade sighed. "Do you have any evidence besides your word and their names on the lockers?" she asked. "If not I'm going to have to let them go too." They didn't say anything, and I started to smirk again. Tsunade looked at Kankuro and me. "You two can go," she said. My smirk grew and as we left the gym. I heard Tsunade tell the other three that they would be punished for going in an area they weren't allowed in by having to clean the mess on the lockers.


	37. The Start of Spring Break

**Temari P.O.V.**

When the gym door opened and Gaara and Kankuro walked out we all stood up and greeted them happily. "So, are you guys getting in trouble?" I asked them. Kankuro shook his head.

"She can't say we did any of the things Ino, Chouji, and Shino say, so she let us go. But they have to clean up the lockers as punishment for going over in an area they weren't allowed to be in," he told us. I smiled. It was good that my brothers didn't get in trouble for something they didn't do, and it was even better that they didn't get in trouble for being over in that area too. They got off free, and the popular kids were getting the punishment they deserved. It was a great start to spring break.

We walked to the front doors of the school as Kankuro and Gaara told us everything that happened in the gym after Sasuke, Naruto, and Lee left. Once we got outside we stood in front of the school. "Neji and I need to get home," Hinata said. "My dad called me while we were waiting for you guys and asked where we were."

"I'll see you later this week then," Kiba said smiling at her. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and she blushed. Tenten wrapped her arms around Neji's neck.

"I have to go too, so it's ok," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow." Neji wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug. The other boys looked away in disgust at them doing that in front of them. I sighed.

"You wouldn't think it was bad if you guys were dating people," I whispered to them.

"To hell I wouldn't think it was bad," Gaara said. "They're kissing and hugging right in front of us."

"One, Kiba only gave Hinata a kiss on the cheek, and two, it's just a hug," I told him.

"So," he said. "I don't need to see it." I shook my head.

"He's right though," Sasuke said. "We don't need to see it." I rolled my eyes at him and turned to look back at Kiba, Hinata, Tenten, and Neji.

"Guys, don't you need to be going somewhere?" I asked. They all jumped and stepped away from each other. They said goodbye to each other, this time with no contact, and we said bye too. Then Hinata and Neji went running up the street to their house in the opposite direction the rest of us were headed.

Soon Kiba and Lee were gone home too, and we were at Tenten's house. She sighed and pulled out her cell phone. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell Neji my family and I are going to Hawaii for spring break," she said.

"Can't you just tell him tomorrow?" Gaara asked. Tenten shook her head.

"We're leaving first thing in the morning," she told him. She said goodbye and that she would see us on the first day back at school. Then she hit the call button on her phone and headed for her house.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

We walked down the street until we got to where Sasuke and Naruto had to turn to leave. "So, are we going to be seeing each other a lot over spring break?" Naruto asked me hopefully. I nodded.

"You and Sasuke can come over and see us anytime you want. It does get lonely and boring around our house," I told him.

"I know mine too," he said. Kankuro, Temari, and Sasuke looked at us.

"Hey, are you calling us boring?" they asked at the same time. Naruto and I looked at them a little creped out that they said that at the same time, but shook it from our memory quickly.

"Yes, we are calling you guys boring," I said. "We see you every day." Temari stuck her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at me. "Hey, don't look at me like that, and why do you care? You're going to be with Deidara most of the time, so you aren't really included in what we said," I told her.

"Well I obviously am included with that. Deidara and the guys are going on tour, so I won't be seeing him," she told me.

"Since when are they going on tour?" Sasuke asked.

"They've been planning it for a while, Deidara told me while I was dancing with him," Temari told him. Sasuke smiled.

"What?" I asked.

"I still have a key to his house," he told me. "This will be a fun spring break." I laughed and thought about all the things we could do to Itachi's house and things. Temari sighed.

"You know if he was a normal person with a brain then he would have changed the lock by now," she told Sasuke. Sasuke smirked.

"Oh, but he isn't a normal person with a brain. I'm sure he lost his after I was born," he told her. She shook her head.

"Well we better get going," Kankuro said. "It's getting late."

"So," Naruto said. "It's spring break."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean people won't get suspicious of a group of kids standing in front of a house for about ten minutes," he said. Naruto didn't say anything.

"Come on Naruto, I want to get home," Sasuke said. Naruto sighed sadly, but agreed to go. We said goodbye and headed our own ways.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Temari, Gaara, and I got home later than usual. Having to stay after school, and waiting for our friends to say goodbye took up a good chunk of our time. It was almost the time we usually ate supper. So Temari and I went straight into the kitchen and started to cook some. Gaara came in and sat down at the table for a bit. But I told him her didn't have to stay there and we would call him when it was done, or if we needed help. He nodded and went off somewhere.

Temari and I made a simple meal. We didn't really want to get too many things dirty, or use too much energy. So we just made a lunch for dinner. We made soup and sandwiches. Then I called Gaara to come eat. He came slowly into the kitchen and sat down at the table. He looked at the food and sighed, but ate it anyways. We finished the food fast and then took out some ice cream to eat from last time we were at the Nara's store. It wasn't a very existing dinner or anything, but at least we had something to eat. And after Temari, Gaara and I were done eating we took out our homework. We didn't want to have to rush and do it at the end of spring break, and it wasn't that much, so we did it fast. Then we cleaned up the dishes and went to bed so we could start the spring break faster.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I woke up early the next morning. I didn't know why, but I couldn't really sleep. I had too many things going through my mind. Like about Shikamaru leaving, and Deidara and I getting back together. I even woke up once late in the night crying because of a dream I had about Shikamaru. When I woke up I saw the light on my cell phone, which was on the dresser beside me, flashing. I picked it up and saw I had a missed call from Deidara. I sighed and went to the voice mail. "Hey Temari, I guess you're sleeping or just don't have your phone with you. Anyways we're going to leave for the tour in the afternoon tomorrow. If you get this message by then call me. We can talk about you coming with the band for spring break. That is, if your parents will let you. Anyways, call me when you get this, bye."

I looked to see when the call was sent. Deidara had called me at about midnight, probably right after their consort was over at the club. I looked at the time now. It was six in the morning. If Deidara was going to be going on the tour in the afternoon, then he was probably still asleep. But I decided to call anyways. He did say to call once I got it after all. So I searched through my contacts to Deidara, and hit the call button. A half asleep Deidara picked up the phone. "Hello?"  
"Hey, you told me to call once I got your message."  
"What, Temari? I didn't mean call me as soon as you get it like, six in the morning as soon as you get it. Aren't you sleepy? You should go back to bed and call me in a few hours."  
"One, the first thing you said made no sense at all. And two, I couldn't sleep."  
"Oh, well I'm talking to you as I'm half asleep, so can you please call me back later when I'm actually here?"  
"So you don't even care that I couldn't sleep?"  
"Of cores I do Tema baby, but I just can't concentrate on this conversation when I'm half asleep. I'm liable to fall asleep talking to you, and that would be rude."  
"Fine, I'll call back later."  
"Ok thanks, and when you call back you can tell me all about not being able to sleep and we can talk about what I wanted to talk to you about."  
"Ok, bye Dei-chan, have a good sleep."  
"Bye Temari, I hope you can get a little more sleep." Deidara hung up. I sighed, put the phone back on my dresser, and lay back down in my bed closing my eyes.

I woke again around eight o'clock. I got out of bed, got dressed, grabbed my phone, and went to go see if Gaara and Kankuro were up yet. When I got to the kitchen I saw they weren't. I sat in the living room for a bit, and then decided to get something to eat. I went into the kitchen and got some cereal. When I was done Kankuro came in. "You're up early," he said.

"I was up sooner than this because I couldn't sleep, but I managed to get a little sleep before now," I told him.

"Oh, lots on your mind?" he asked. I nodded and then looked at my phone remembering that Deidara wanted me to call back later. I had another missed call on it from him. "Do you even have minutes on that phone?" Kankuro asked as he went and got some cereal too.

"Well it still works, so yeah," I told him.

"How are you paying for the minutes on it?" he asked.

"With the money I get from working at the Nara's store," I told him.

"They know to bill you here?" he asked.

"No, I go into the phone store in the mall once in a while after work now and ask them to pull up my bill so I can pay it," I told him.

"They actually do that?" Kankuro asked a little confused.

"Yeah, they do here anyways. I don't think they do in many other places," I told him looking at the time. "I'll be right back, I need to call Deidara." I left the kitchen and went back to my room.

I sat down on my bed and hit the call button on my phone. It rang twice before the other end got picked up, "This is Sasori, Deidara's driving right now."  
"Oh, well I'll call back later then."  
"No, there's no need for that, I can talk to you."  
"Well I just wanted to talk to Deidara about why he called me last night."  
"Why'd he call you last night?"  
"Why do you want to know?"  
"Because I'm his best friend and I'm in titled to know." Deidara said something to Sasori in the background, but I couldn't hear what. Sasori sighed. "Deidara's getting mad at me."  
"Why?"  
"Why do you want to know?"  
"Hey, that's not fair!"  
"What, you can't take what you dish out?" Sasori started laughing and Deidara said something to him again.  
"You're mean."  
"Well you are too. Anyways, we're at Itachi's house now. So Deidara is making me give him the phone."  
"Good, I don't want to talk you anymore."  
"You're so mean to me!" I laughed. Then he said goodbye and gave the phone to Deidara.

We talked for a bit, and then he asked if he could talk to my mom and dad about me going with him on the tour. I told him that they weren't home, but I asked if I could before they left and they said it was ok. This didn't seem to be good enough for him, and he wanted to know if he could call my mom and dad at work. "They don't like being bugged at work."  
"Well I think it would be better if I asked them too."  
"I don't even know when they are getting off work. I'm never up to see them, and the only reason I was up to see them before they went to work today was because I couldn't sleep. Kankuro, Gaara, and I never see them, and they don't really care anyways."  
"That's not true, I'm sure they care lots. That's why they are always working so they have enough money to get stuff for you guys."  
"No, they use the money they get to go on vacation without us. That's why I have a job so I can buy things for me and my brothers." Deidara sighed into the phone.

I hated lying to him and about my parents, but I couldn't tell him the truth about them. If I told him Gaara and Kankuro would be even madder than they already were, and probably wouldn't forgive me. I just couldn't tell Deidara that our mom and dad died years ago, and that we've been living alone since Gaara was practically a baby. But at the same time it hurt to have to lie about my parents the way I was. I made them out to seem like the worst parents ever, and that wasn't true. They loved us lots and would do anything to show that. I took a deep breath. "Please trust me and allow me to come."  
"Fine, I guess I'll let you come. But I just hope you're telling me the truth and not lying to me to run away from home for two weeks."  
"Thank you, I'll pack my stuff and then you guys can come by and pick me up."  
"Ok, see you in a few hours. Bye." I said goodbye and hung up the phone. Now I just needed to find a way to tell my brothers I would be gone for two weeks.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I woke up at ten o'clock to the sun beating on my face. If I could have I would have slept until twelve, but I got up, got dressed, and left my room. When I was down the hallway by Temari's room I saw her coming out with a suitcase. "What's that for?" I asked.

"To put my clothes and things in," she told me. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why?" I asked curiously. She sighed and closed her bedroom door.

"Because I'm going somewhere for spring break," she told me.

"Where are you going, who are you going with, and since when?" I asked.

"I'll tell you and Kankuro at the same time, so wait," she told me.

"Kankuro doesn't know about this either?" I asked. She shook her head. "This is going to be fun then," I said with a smirk and followed her into the kitchen.

I grabbed a box of cereal and started to eat as Temari brought her suitcase to the front door. Then she came back and sat down. At first she didn't say anything, so I kicked her. She glared at me and then began to talk. "So, I'm going away for spring break," she said not looking at me or Kankuro. Kankuro gave her a confused look. She didn't say anything.

"Are you going to answer my questions now?" I asked her. She sighed.

"I'm going on tour with The Akatsuki because Deidara invited me last night," Temari told us. Kankuro slammed his fist on the table and Temari jumped.

"Oh no, you're not go anywhere without us," he told her.

"I'll leave you guys all the money I have. I'll even go get my pay check for next week in advance and give it to you. Then I'll work over time for a few weeks after I get back. I'll give you guys a card so you can get the employee discount at the Nara's store. I'll go pay off my cell phone bill for the next two weeks with my advance first though so I can give you guys my phone. You can call me anytime on Deidara's cell. It's not like I'm going to be leaving you guys and not coming back. I wasn't even sure I wanted to go, but I need the two weeks to get away and think about stuff. Plus you can invite Naruto and Sasuke to stay with you or you can go over there if you need to. And you guys don't need to worry about me. Deidara gave up drinking, so when his friends are going to be doing that we can go somewhere else for a few hours and come back when they crashed and are fast asleep," she told us. I looked at Kankuro and he looked back. Kankuro let out a sigh.

"Fine, you can go. As long as you make sure to do all those things you said you'd do," he said.

"What, we're letting her go?!" I asked angrily standing up.

"She's older then us and knows how to take care of herself. I mean she's been taking care of herself and you and me for almost her whole life. I think we owe it to her to at least let her go do this one thing," he told me. I sat down and crossed my arms.

"You better call us every night before we go to bed, and in the morning after we wake up," I told her.

"So you want me to call you at midnight, and at lunch?" she asked. I nodded. "Ok, I'll make sure to set my watch every day and night," Temari told me.

"Then I guess it's settled," Kankuro said. "Call Deidara and get him to drive you to the Nara's store, and the mall to do all this stuff now. You can't leave until you do it." Temari nodded and smiled, and then she ran to the front door.

"And you're leaving your suitcase here until you come back to give us the stuff!" I yelled after her.

"Yeah, I will!" she yelled back.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I put my suitcase in the living room. Then I went and sat down on the couch to call Deidara. He came and picked me up a few minutes later, but said he had to get back and help pack the bands things, so we had to be fast. I went to the Nara's store and asked the new manager there for my pay check in advance and told him I wouldn't be working there over spring break, but would make up the time working overtime after. He said there was no need for the overtime and that I could take the two weeks as paid vacation. He had talked to Mr. Nara about things at the store and heard that I was a really good worker and that I was one of the people that he could trust most there. I smiled and thanked him. Then I raced out of the store with my check to Deidara's car.

Next he drove me to the mall. I went into the cell phone store and told the lady I would like to pay for my bill for the next two weeks. She told me she couldn't do that since she didn't know how much time I would be on the phone. I told her just to add it together as if I was talking on the phone everyday for at least two hours plus long distance. I told her if that was under that I'd pay off the rest later, and if it was over I'd like to use that to pay off some of my next bill. She agreed to it after bugging her for a while, and I gave her the money I had on me. I almost had to use my whole check.

I raced back out to the car and Deidara drove me home. I told him I'd be right back out to go with him to Itachi's house so we could leave. When I went into the front doors of the house and into the living room I noticed Kankuro and Gaara sitting on the couch waiting for me. Gaara was holding my suitcase and Kankuro looked up at me. "Here, I got you guys enough money for the two weeks, and I paid off my cell phone too so you can call me every day for about two hours," I told them handing the money and phone to Kankuro. "Now give me my suitcase and I'll see you guys at the end of spring break." Gaara sighed and handed me the suitcase.

"You better buy me stuff," he told me.

"How am I supposed to buy you stuff when I just gave you all my money?" I asked him.

"Get your boyfriend to buy it of cores," he said with a little smirk.

"Fine, but only cheep things," I told him. He agreed and I headed out the door to Deidara's car.

We got to Itachi's house and everyone stared as I got out of Deidara's car. "What's she doing here?" Kisame asked.

"She's coming with us," Deidara told him. Sasori sighed.

"Couldn't leave your girlfriend for that long?" he asked.

"You should have told us sooner," Kisame told him.

"Well she wanted to come," Deidara told them. Itachi came out of his house and looked at his friends and me.

"Itachi, tell Deidara he can't bring his girlfriend!" Kisame yelled. Itachi walked over to us.

"If her parents allowed her to come, than what gives us the right to say no?" he asked. "Besides, she can help us set up and carry our stuff." I looked at Deidara.

"You might as well help us if you're coming," he told me. I sighed and a agreed as long as I didn't have to carry anything too heavy.

"Then we're all set. Everyone, get into the van and we'll head to our first place," Itachi said getting into the driver's side of their rented van. Soon everyone was in the van with all our luggage and the interments, and we were on our way to the first town.


	38. Miles Away

**Temari P.O.V.**

I looked out one of the windows in the van and saw that we were driving in the country again. We had passed through about three towns in the past six hours, but didn't stop in any of them. I sighed and finally asked Deidara where we were going. He didn't answer, so I looked at Sasori who was also in the back with us. He shrugged. "Deidara told us not to tell you until we get there," he told me. I pouted.

"And how long is that going to take?" I asked.

"About three days," Kisame laughed from the front of the van. I crossed my arms and looked at Deidara.

"Where are we going?" I asked him again. He did say anything. Then my eyes went wide. "We're going to Suna, aren't we?" I asked. Deidara just looked away from me and out the window. "We are going to Suna, why didn't you tell me?!" I yelled at him. Deidara turned and looked me in the eyes.

"I just thought you wouldn't want to come if I told you. Shikamaru is there now after all. But it shouldn't matter, because you probably won't see him anyways," he told me. I just sighed angrily and looked out the window watching the empty country go by.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

It had only been a few hours since Temari left, but Gaara and I were missing her already. It was strange though, because she had only been gone as long as she would have been if she was at work. But somehow knowing that she was actually going to be gone for the whole spring break, and miles away, made us miss her more.

Gaara and I had been sitting quietly for that whole time just staring at the front door. We knew she wasn't walking in anytime soon, but somehow we must have thought that if we looked at the door long enough and imagined Temari coming through it saying she couldn't leave us, or that it was all a joke, that she would actually come back.

I heard a sigh from beside me and finally took my stare away from the door over to Gaara. He stood up and stretched. Then he turned to me. "Well it's about diner time, isn't it?" he asked. I nodded.

"You need to help me then if you want to eat, since Temari's not here," I told him. He nodded and we headed off to the kitchen.

We made a smaller diner than normal. It was just macaroni and some hotdogs. We cooked it fast, and then ate it. Once we were done we cleaned up the mess. After that Gaara said he was going to go to his room until Temari called, and told me to tell him as soon as she did. I nodded and he went off. Then I went and sat in the living room for a bit before going to my room.

**Temari P.O.V.**

We finally stopped in a little town at about ten o'clock at night. Itachi didn't want to stop because he wanted to get to at least one more town, but the other guys wouldn't let him. They were telling him that they don't know how far the next town is from this one, and that it might be a few more hours. Plus everyone was hungry and getting a little annoyed.

Itachi pulled up to a gas station to get gas. Once he was done he got back in the van and turned to us. "So, what do you guys want to eat?" he asked.

"Well we don't have many choices, do we? Every place is closed except a few twenty four hour fast food places," Deidara told him with a sigh.

"Do they even have twenty four hour fast food places in a little town like this?" Kisame asked.

"If not we can just buy a bunch of junk food and juice from this place," I suggested with a yawn.

"Well I don't want to waste gas looking for some fast food place that doesn't exist," Itachi told us.

"Fine, Itachi you and me can go and get some junk food from in here," Sasori said opening the side door of the van. Itachi got out of the front and the two walked back into the store Itachi has just went in to pay for gas.

I yawned again and rubbed my eyes. I was never usually tired at this time, but sitting in the van for that long made me tired. Deidara smiled at me and I gave him a confused look. "What?" I asked him.

"Nothing, you just look cute when you're tired," he told me. I blushed and looked away from him.

"Hey you two I'm still here, don't start getting it on," Kisame said. "Or maybe you could and I can get something to watch." I grabbed the closest thing to me, which happened to be a drum stick, and threw it at Kisame's head. It hit him, and he gave me an angry look. "What was that for?" he asked. "I was just kidding."

"Yeah, well it wasn't funny," I told him crossing my arms. He picked the drums stick back up from where it had landed on the floor in front of him, and threw it back at me. I ducked a little and it went flying over my head hitting the back door.

"Missed me," I said sticking my tongue out at Kisame. He glared at me.

"Ok guys, that's enough," Deidara said. "Maybe we should go for a walk to cool off a little."

"A walk sounds good," I told him with a smile. Deidara opened up the side door and got out. Then he helped me out. "Are you coming blue boy?" I asked Kisame.

"I'll go for a walk, but I'm not going with you guys. I'm going to go see what the other two are doing," he said opening his door and getting out. I sighed and closed the side door.

Deidara and I walked away from the van together. It was a nice night. There wasn't any breeze, so it was just warm enough to not need a jacket on. Deidara and I walked quietly for a bit stretching our legs. I yawned again and looked back at the van and the store. The others still hadn't come out yet. Then I turned to Deidara. "So, where are we going exactly?" I asked as we got further from the van.

"We're just going to do a circle around the building," he told me. I bumped his hand a little with mine. Then he took my hand and held it.

When we got back to the van Itachi, Sasori, and Kisame were back and waiting outside it with the said door, and Kisame's door open. Itachi was lying across the hood of the van with his back on the front window, Kisame was sitting in his seat sideways with his feet hanging out the door, and Sasori was sitting just inside the van on the floor. When we walked up they looked at us. "About time you got back," Sasori said.

"We were only gone for about two minutes," I told them putting my hands on my hips.

"Well there's no room for you to sit now, in less you sit inside the van," Kisame told us.

"Yes there is," I said walking over to Sasori. He shook his head.

"I'm not moving over," he said.

"Only for a second so I can take off my shoes and socks without having to stand in the dirt," I told him.

"Why are you taking off your shoes?" he asked.

"You'll see," I told him. He shook his head at me. "Fine then I'll sit on you," I told him.

"Go ahead, I'm not moving. You'll take my spot," he said like he didn't believe me. I sighed and sat down on his lap bringing my feet up. Deidara looked at me with a confused look, and I looked over to Sasori and saw him smiling a little. "Hey Deidara I have your girlfriend in my lap, you jealous?" he asked Deidara as he rapped his arms around my waist. I glared at Sasori and slapped him on the side of the head. He let go of me quickly.

"Don't you dare do that again," I told him angrily.

"Fine I won't, you didn't have to hit me!" he yelled. Kisame started laughing.

"Deidara doesn't even have to beat you up for that because Temari can just do it herself," he said.

"Shut up Kisame!" Sasori yelled at him. But Kisame just continued to laugh.

I took off my shoes and socks quickly and threw them over by where I was sitting in the van, and stood up on the edge of where Sasori was sitting. Then I walked carefully over to the seat that was close to the door, and stood on the very edge of it making me get a little higher up. Deidara and the others looked at me. "What're you doing? You're going to fall and get hurt," Deidara said walking over behind me. "Get down." I shook my head.

"Just help me a little," I told him. He looked at me confuse. "Hold me around the waist so I won't fall, and help me up more," I told him. He did as I said, and I climbed onto the roof of the van.

"Hey that's not fair, he got to grab your waist," Sasori said looking from out of the van up at me.

"Well he's my boyfriend, so it is fair," I told him. "And if you keep complaining I'll kick you in the face. Now pass me something to eat." Sasori sighed, took the bag of junk food from Kisame, and handed it to me.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

Kankuro came to my room and knocked on the door. I told him to come in, and he came and sat on my bed beside me as I turned off my stereo. He had Temari on the phone and was talking to her. He put it on speaker and set it on my bed. "Hello," I said.  
"Gaara?" she asked.  
"Who else would it be?"  
"I don't know."  
"Exactly, so what are you doing? Where are you?"  
"I'm sitting on the roof of a van eating junk food at some gas station in some little town."  
"Where's Deidara?"  
"Better question, how'd you get on the roof of a van?" Kankuro asked joining in the conversation.  
"He's standing under me beside Sasori who's sitting in the van. And Deidara helped me up."  
"Well why are you at a gas station? Shouldn't you be at a hotel or something going to bed?" I asked.  
"Um, I don't know, one second." We heard Temari yell to Itachi if they were going to check into a hotel to sleep. We didn't hear what he said, but it didn't matter because she told us. "No, we're sleeping in the van. Itachi wants to be able to just go get us breakfast and leave as soon as he gets up."  
"Well I don't like the idea of you sleeping in the back of some van with a bunch of guys," I told her.  
"It's just Deidara and Sasori, Kisame and Itachi are sleeping up front in their seats."  
"That doesn't matter," I told her.  
"Oh well it's too late now." Temari yawned into the phone. "And I need to go. The guys want to get to sleep so we can get up early tomorrow." I sighed.  
"Fine, just be careful," I said.  
"I will. Goodbye, have a good sleep." Kankuro and I said bye to her and she said she would call us tomorrow. Then she hung up the phone.

Kankuro turned Temari's phone. I sighed and fell back onto my bed. "I don't like the idea of her sleeping in a van full of boys," I told Kankuro as he got up.

"Well I'm sure she can take care of herself," he told me.

"So you're ok with this?!" I asked angrily sitting up fast.

"No I'm not. I'm just saying that we don't have to worry. Temari knows what she's doing. Like I said she can take care of herself. She's been talking care of both of us, and herself, since you were little," he told me. I just sighed and put my head back down on the pillow. I knew Kankuro was right, but I didn't really want to admit it. "Anyways, have a good night Gaara," Kankuro said leaving my room.

"Yeah, goodnight," I mumbled after he closed the door. Then I closed my eyes and fell asleep.


	39. Itachi's House

**Temari P.O.V.**

I woke up to the van hitting a big bump. I groaned as my head hit the floor, hard, and opened my eyes. I looked at the roof of the van for a few seconds a little confused about why I wasn't in my bed. Then I remembered that I was going on tour with The Akatsuki. I tried to sit up, but something was holding me down. I looked over and saw Deidara was sleeping very close beside me, and had his one arm tightly around my stomach, where my shirt had somehow been pulled up above my bellybutton. I sighed, pushed his arm off of me, and sat up. When I did this he moved a little and his eyes opened. I looked down at him with a confused look on my face. "What?" Deidara asked.

"How did, me pushing your arm off of me wake you up when that bump we hit a while ago never?" I asked pulling my shirt back down over my bellybutton.

"We hit a bump?" he asked a little confused. I nodded. "Oh, well I must have been too asleep to notice," he said with a little smile. "I was having a good dream."

"Was it about doing things to Temari?" Sasori asked. He had been sitting on the seat in front of us the whole time watching.

"No," Deidara said not bothering to look over at him.

"Really, because you were holding her and kept moving your hand up her stomach under her shirt until I kicked you and woke you up last night. Then you stopped and went back to sleep," he told him. I looked at Sasori and then back at Deidara.

"I don't remember doing that," Deidara told Sasori looking over at him now.

"Well you did," he told him. "But I guess it doesn't matter because I stopped you from doing anything too bad." Sasori shrugged and Deidara opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by Itachi hitting another bump in the road. We went high up in the air, and came smashing down. I groaned again and took this as a hint to sit down and put a seat belt on, and Deidara did the same.

As we did we heard Kisame start yelling up at the front. "What the hell Itachi, learn how to drive this damn thing!" he yelled.

"It's the road that's bad, and you should be prepared for bumps like that anyways," he told him.

"How the hell was I supposed to be prepared for that?!" he asked.

"Because I already hit one and you hit your head on the door's window and woke up. After that you should have gotten the hint that there would be more like that on this road. Plus if you looked outside you'd see we're in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road," Itachi told him. Kisame opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. One thing I learn from hanging out with Deidara's friends was that you just can't argue with Itachi and expect to win.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I rolled over in my bed and looked at the time. It was almost eleven in the morning, and usually I'd be up by now. Temari would hopefully be calling in an hour if she was going to keep her promise to me and Gaara. I sighed, sat up, and looked around my room. When I scanned past the door I saw Gaara standing in it. "About time you got up," he said walking over and sitting on the foot of my bed.

"How long have you been there?" I asked.

"I don't know, an hour or so," he said. I looked at him a little shocked.

"But usually you'd still be asleep right now and I'd be waking you up for lunch in an hour," I told him.

"I couldn't sleep," he said yawning a little. "So, what's for lunch?" I sighed and shook my head. "What," he said. "I'm hungry."

I got out of bed and told Gaara to meet me in the kitchen. He left my room, and I got dressed. Then I grabbed Temari's phone and left to the kitchen. I asked Gaara what he wanted to eat, but he didn't know. So I just made some sandwiches and told him if he was hungry later he could make something else. He agreed and we ate lunch.

After we were done cleaning everything up Temari's phone rang. I answered and put it on speaker. "Hey guys," Temari said in a kind of tired voice with a yawn.  
"Why are you so tired?" Gaara asked.  
"Well it's hard to sleep enough when the van starts moving at four in the morning and wakes everyone up," she said.  
"You were up driving that early?" I asked.  
"Yeah, Itachi wants to get there in time for the show, plus have a little extra time. Since we've been driving so much we should be at the first place tonight," she told us.  
"Where is their first show?" Gaara asked. Temari paused for a second.  
"Suna," she said finally.  
"But you told us before, on that night Shikamaru broke up with you, that it was five days away! How can you be there tonight?" Gaara yelled into the phone. Temari gave a little chuckle.  
"I was really hurt and in a bad mood at that point. It's actually only three days away," she said with a sigh. "I kind of over exaggerated."  
"So you're going to drive none stop all day and some of the night just to get there on time?" I asked.  
"Yeah, Itachi bought us stuff to eat and drink for breakfast and lunch. We're only going to make a stop if we really need to," she told me.  
"So what are you going to do if you see Shikamaru there?" Gaara asked her.  
"Oh come on, Suna is a big place. There is a very low chance that I'm going to see Shikamaru at all. Besides we're only going for one night, then we're leaving again. So the chances are even lower," she told him sounding a little annoyed.  
"But what if?" he asked.  
"I just told you there is a very small chance I'll see him. Now I need to go. I don't want to make Deidara's phone bill too high. I'll call you guys tonight, bye," she said and hung up the phone.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I stared at the phone. I couldn't believe she got that mad enough at my question to hang-up. We'd only been talking for a few minutes after all. There was no reason to start worrying about how high the phone bill was going to be yet. As I continued to look at the phone, Kankuro's hand came out and picked it up. I watched him close it and put it in his pocket. "You shouldn't have brought Shikamaru up. You know she's still hurt over how he broke up with her," he said.

"That's exactly why I asked! What's she going to do if she does see him? Just because Suna is a big place doesn't mean there is no chance at all of her seeing him!" I yelled standing up and slamming my hands down on the kitchen table.

"Gaara, what's wrong? Why do you even care about her and Shikamaru? You said you were going to butt out of these things," Kankuro said in a concerned voice. I looked at him angrily.

"I don't care," I told him. Then I started to walk to the front door. "I'll see you later," I said.

"Where are you going?" Kankuro asked me.

"To go do something with Naruto and Sasuke, I did tell them that we would be hanging out lots over the break," I said opening the front door. "I'll see you later." Then I slammed the door behind me.

I got to Naruto's house and knocked on the front door. A few seconds a grinning Naruto opened it and pulled me into the house. "Gaara, I missed you!" he yelled attempting to hug me, but I pushed him away, and walked by him. "How have you been? It's only been one day and I'm bored out of my mind! Sasuke doesn't want to do anything! He just locked himself in his room like he usually does!" Naruto told me. I turned and looked at him. Even though he was complaining he seemed happier then the last time I came over and he complained about Sasuke.

"I'm good," I told him. "It's really boring at my house too. Kankuro isn't that much fun and Temari went with Deidara and his friend on their spring break tour." Naruto looked at me confused.

"And you guys let her go?" he asked. I sighed and nodded. Then I explained to him what had happened the day before.

Sasuke came into the room as I finished rubbing his eyes and yawning. He was still in his pyjamas. "You guys are too loud," he said a little annoyed.

"What the hell Sasuke, were you sleeping?" I asked.

"I _was_ sleeping until you got here. Then I got woken up and just kind of listened to what you two were talking about," he said yawning again.

"Well sorry for waking you, sleeping emo," I said in a not so serious voice. Sasuke chuckled.

"You better be sorry," he said. "Now I have to go play my music at full volume and make everyone else miserable too."

Naruto looked from me to Sasuke with a confused look on his face. "What in the world are you two talking about?" he asked. I laughed a little.

"Nothing," Sasuke said. "I'm going to go get changed." Naruto watched him walk away around the corner. Then he turned to me.

"No really, what were you talking about?" he asked.

"You won't get it if you don't get it already," I told him walking past him into the kitchen.

"Were you making fun of him?" Naruto asked following me.

"Kind of," I said sitting down at his dinner table.

"Well then how come he didn't get mad at you? He gets mad at me when I make fun of him!" Naruto yelled angrily. I just shook my head and sighed.

Sasuke came back a few minutes later fully dress and not looking so tired anymore. He grabbed a box of cereal from one of the shelves and sat down beside Naruto at the table. "So what do you guys want to do today?" I asked as Sasuke started to eat from the box.

"Why don't we go bug Kiba?" Naruto suggested. Sasuke shook his head.

"Kiba's probably busy with Hinata," he told him.

"Then how about we go find Ino and her friends and bug them?" Naruto asked.

"Their probably off on some Tropical vacation like Tenten," Sasuke told him. Naruto glared at Sasuke.

"Then what do _you_ think we should do?" he asked a little annoyed. Sasuke gave and evil smirk.

"Let's go to Itachi's empty house and trash the place," he said. Naruto shook his head.

"We could get in trouble for that. Someone could call the police if we're too loud or something," he said.

"Fine, if you're scared you'll get in trouble then Gaara and I will just go," he said. Naruto looked at me and I nodded. Naruto stood up.

"Fine I'll go," he said. "Come on!" Sasuke smiled.

"Now you're talking. This is the kind of fun I like," he said leaving the cereal box on the table following Naruto and me out the front door.

We got to Itachi's house and Naruto looked around. "Well I don't see anyone around," he said. "So I guess we can go." We walked up to the front door and Sasuke took out a key. He put it in the lock and turned it. He smiled.

"It still works, Itachi is so stupid he forgot to change the locks," he said swinging the door open. We walked into the house and Sasuke closed the door. I walked around and saw that it was full of things. There was a big couch in the living room with a flat screen TV, a bunch of movies, video game machines, and a stereo. We went into the basement where there was a bar, two pool tables, another big stereo, and another flat screen TV on the wall in a corner. I looked around at all this in shock.

"How does your brother get the money for all this?" I asked.

"Well, as far as the government and everyone know, I'm still living here. So he gets money for taking care of me. Plus he gets all that money from all the places The Akatsuki plays. The other band member's houses probably look about the same as this place, only with less expensive stuff since they don't get money for taking care of a kid or anything," Sasuke told me as we walked to the far back of the room. There was a door at the end that went into a tight, dark, hallway.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked as we squeezed through the door.

"To my old room, I want to see if Itachi did anything to it. And if he never I want to take some things," he said.

"But isn't that stealing?" Naruto asked. Sasuke stopped and looked at him.

"No, It's my stuff so it's not stealing," he said. Naruto didn't say anything, and Sasuke continued down the hallway.

We got to the end and Sasuke opened the door to a small room that was darker then the hallway we were just in. He turned on the light and we walked in. I looked around the room. There was a big bed in the middle taking up most of the room and was neatly made, there was a small stereo on top of a shelf in a corner that had a bunch of CD's, Video games, and movies on it. Right across from the bed was a small flat screen TV on the wall that had two tables under it. One with a DVD player and one with a video game console on it. The wall was full of band posters, and the windows had big heavy curtains covering them. As I looked at all this I noticed the room was very clean and looked like it had been vacuumed and dusted recently.

I looked over at Sasuke. He looked shocked as if he'd never seen anything like this before. Naruto looked at him too and he shook himself out of his shock. "I don't remember leaving this room so clean," he said more to himself then us. He walked over the bed and touched it. "The blankets were just cleaned too," he said sitting down on the bed.

"You know, Sasuke," I stared and I walked over to him. "This doesn't look like the room of a kid that was treated badly." Naruto nodded.

"If your brother hates you like you say he does, then why do you have such a nice room?" he asked. "And why does it look like your room was just cleaned?"

"Maybe Itachi misses him," I said turning to Naruto.

"Well if he didn't then he would have cleaned the room out and sold all this stuff, wouldn't he have?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke stood up and looked at me and Naruto angrily. "Itachi never liked me," he said. "He hurt me, and he never showed any love towards me. After our parents died all he did was ignore me and hurt me more!" Sasuke's eyes started to fill with tears and he looked away from us. "This room means nothing! H-he kept it and cleaned it because some how he knew I would be coming here! H-he's just trying to mess with my head, that's all!" he told us angrily.

"Or maybe he was keeping the room for you because he's hoping one day you'll come back home and forgive him. I mean he got you all this stuff, maybe buying you things was the only way he could show you that he loved you," Naruto told him. Sasuke clenched his fist and looked up at Naruto angrily.

"No, he never loved me and he never will! He doesn't miss me! He just doesn't know what to do with this stuff yet! He ignored me, and only gave me this stuff because he bought better ones and didn't want to throw them away and waste money!" he yelled grabbing a pillow from the bed and throwing it to the ground. Naruto and I looked at each other.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said. "It's just-" he cut himself off. "Never mind, I was wrong."

"Whatever, let's just go," Sasuke said whipping his eyes and standing up.

"Didn't you want to take a few things?" I asked him. He shook his head and Naruto and I followed him out of the room.

We went back into the room with the pool tables. We played a round of pool, and then went upstairs without putting anything away. Then we played some of Itachi's video games, ate some of his food, and trashed his bed room. After we were done we went back into the kitchen and took a few things to bring home that we were running low on at our houses so we wouldn't have to go buy it from the store later. "Now I know this is stealing," Naruto said as he stuck two cans of pop in his pockets.

"Yeah well Itachi should have been smart enough to change the lock on his house," Sasuke said grabbing a bag of chips. I put some pop in my pockets, and took a box of cookies. Then we left the house and headed back to Naruto's and Sasuke's house.


	40. The Annoying Sasori

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Gaara got home just as I finished making dinner. I was setting the table when he came in and set some pop and a box of cookies on the table. "Where did you get those?" I asked.

"None of your business," he told me. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?" he asked.

"Where did you get those?" I asked again. He didn't say anything and my eyes went wide. "You didn't shoplift them, did you?" I asked. Gaara shook his head.

"I didn't shoplift them, but I didn't exactly pay for them," he told me opening a can of pop and taking a sip. I sighed.

"Where did you get them then?" I asked again.

"From a very generous person," he told me.

"You stole them from someone?" I asked getting a little annoyed that he wasn't telling me anything.

"I guess you could say that," he told me taking another sip. "But technically it wasn't stealing at all, was it? I mean Sasuke had a key to the house and the stuff is technically his too." I looked at Gaara confused. I had no idea what he was talking about. He must have noticed this, because as he sat down at the table he looked up at me. "Sasuke had a key to Itachi's house," he told me. I sat down at the table too.

"So you broke into Itachi's house and stole his food?" I asked. Gaara shook his head.

"No, we unlocked the door to his house using Sasuke's key, we looked around, played with a few things, and then we took some of the food. I don't see how it's stealing since Sasuke has a key to the house, and technically should be living there," he told me. I shook my head and sighed.

"I'm going to have to tell Temari about this, you know that right?" I asked.

"And what's she going to do? She's almost in Suna by now," he told me.

"She can tell Itachi, he's there with her," I told him. Gaara hit his hand on the table and I jumped a little.

"So you're going to tell Temari about this, who is all the way in Suna, so that she can tell Itachi so when Itachi comes back he can hunt Sasuke down and beat him again?" he asked me angrily. I paused for a moment and looked at the table. I had no idea what to say. Finally I let out a sigh and looked back at Gaara.

"Fine," I said. "I won't tell her. We can keep this a secret. Just don't do it again, ok?" Gaara nodded and began to eat his dinner.

**Temari P.O.V.**

We got to Suna really late, and I was asleep. When Itachi stopped the van Deidara shook me and woke me up. "Where are we?" I asked rubbing my eyes and sitting up.

"We're at a store, Itachi and Kisame went in to get supper," Deidara told me as I looked out the window. "After we get some food we're going to find someplace to park for the night so we can get some sleep." I looked away from the window back into the van. Sasori was sleeping on the seat across from us.

"Why didn't you wake him up too?" I asked him.

"I tried but he wouldn't wake up. Besides, Sasori gets really angry when he's woken up," Deidara told me. I sighed and looked back out the window for Itachi and Kisame.

A few minutes later they came out with two bags full of food. They got into the van and told us that they were going to look for a gas station, so Itachi could get gas and everyone could go to the bathroom and stuff, and then they were going to find a place to park for the night. I sighed and asked Deidara for the time. It was almost midnight. When we got to the gas station we all got out and stretch. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back to the van I asked Deidara for his phone. He gave it to me and I sat down inside the van's side door with my feet sticking out where Sasori usually sat, he had gone off somewhere, and I dialled my cell number.

I talked with my brothers for a bit before Sasori decided to come back. "Get out of my spot girl," he said jokingly as he poked me. I shook my head and continued to talk on the phone. "Come on, I'll help you onto the roof," he said with a smirk.

"No, go away," I told him.

"Who's that?" Kankuro asked through the phone.  
"Sasori," I told him. Sasori sat down beside me.

"Come on, I always sit there while I wait," he told me getting kind of close.

"Well you can go sit inside the van," I told him.

"But then I won't get any fresh air," he said poking me again.

"Please go away, I'm on the phone," I told him.

"What's going on?" Gaara asked.  
"Nothing," I told him.  
"Are you sure, it doesn't sound like nothing," Kankuro said.  
"Yes it's nothing, it's just Sasori being himself," I told them. Sasori grabbed the phone and pulled it away from my ear.  
"Yeah, I'm just harassing your sister like I always do." he told Gaara and Kankuro. I grabbed the phone back from him.  
"Sorry about that, guys," I said. "And Sasori please stop it!" I yelled.

"Wow, don't need to get all angry," he said. "I was just teasing, and I wanted to help you on the roof."

"Well I don't want to go on the roof right now," I told him angrily. "Where's Deidara?" Sasori shrugged and got out of the van. Then he leaned against the door.

"If I can't sit down I guess I'll just stand here," he said. I rolled my eyes at him and went back to the conversation I was having with my brothers before he came.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

As we hung up the phone I looked at it and sighed angrily. "What's wrong?" Kankuro asked. I looked up at him.

"I really don't like the idea of Temari being way out there with those boys," I told him. "I mean she sounded really annoyed with Sasori. What if he does bug her like that all the time?" Kankuro sighed sadly.

"Well it's too late to do anything now. And I'm sure Deidara stops him if he gets too bad," he told me.

"But didn't you head her asking him where Deidara was?" I asked.

"Didn't you notice that after a while of him bugging her he left her alone?" Kankuro asked me. I crossed my arms and stood up. Kankuro sighed. "What now?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said. "I'm just going to be. I'm tired." And I went to my room angrily.


	41. Him Again

**Temari P.O.V.**

I woke up the next morning on the floor to see that no one was in the van. I yawned and sat up tiredly looking around. The sun was shining brightly through the windows of the van, and it was very quiet. I sighed not really thinking anything of this and looked towards the back window. As I did I saw Deidara's phone sitting on the seat, by my head, so I picked it up and opened it to look at the time. My eyes widened. It was five minutes past noon. I quickly typed in my cell phone number and hit send.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Gaara sat there waiting patiently at the table. He was staring at the phone waiting for it to ring while I made us lunch. "What if she forgot?" Gaara asked breaking the silence. I looked at him.

"She didn't forget," I told him and then went back to making sandwiches.

"But usually she calls by now," he told me.

"She probably lost track of time, give it a few minutes," I said. He sighed and put his head down on the table.

I was right to give it a few minutes. About five minutes after I said it the phone rang. Gaara reached quickly for it, almost knocking over his glass of juice, and answered putting it on speaker. "Hey guys, sorry for not calling right before noon like normal. I just woke up," Temari told us.  
"What do you mean you just woke up?" I asked.  
"Yeah I thought that the guys would be bugging you and would have woken you up sooner," Gaara said with a hint of annoyance and relief in his voice.  
"Yeah I don't know, I woke up and no one was here. Plus it's really quiet," she told us.  
"Well where are you?" Gaara asked.  
"Uh," she started. "I don't know. I haven't really gotten up to look. I just saw the phone on the seat and called you guys."  
"Well don't you think it would have been batter to look around before doing anything?" I asked. She laughed slightly.  
"Probably, but I wasn't really thinking about where I was at the moment. I just wanted to call you guys so you wouldn't worry," she told me.  
"Well we're worrying even more now because you don't even know where you are!" Gaara practically yelled into the phone. Temari sighed.  
"Fine, if it will make you happy I'll check," she said. There was a long pause and then she stared to talk again. "I am sitting in the van and it is in an empty field," she told us. I could tell Gaara was about to comment on this, but Temari started again. "And Deidara is leaning against the van while talking to Sasori who is lying on the ground, and Itachi and Kisame have disappeared somewhere. But I can see a store across the street in the other direction, so they're probably over there getting something to eat," Temari finished.  
"Well that's good that they didn't just leave you there," Gaara told her.  
"Even if they did leave me here Deidara wouldn't go with them. He'd stay here with me no matter what," she told him.  
"Yeah, whatever," Gaara said.  
"Well I have to go. Deidara wants to me to come outside and see him. Plus I can see Itachi and Kisame coming back the other way with bags. So I'll talk to you guys again tonight," she told us.  
"Ok, bye. Have a good day," Gaara said.  
"You too, I miss you guys," she told us.  
"We miss you too, bye," I said, and she hung up the phone.

Gaara sighed and closed the phone. Then he started to eat. "What's wrong now?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said as he reached for a drink.

"That's the same thing you said last night," I told him. He glared and me from over his glass for a second, and then looked away. I sighed. "I know you miss her and you don't want her out there with just boys. But there's nothing to worry about, Deidara will take care of her," I told him. He put his juice down.

"Since when you trust Deidara, I thought you didn't like him either," Gaara said.

"I didn't, but from what Temari says he's not that bad," I told him. Gaara hit his hand on the table.

"That's what they are all like at first. Then they want to be rewarded for being good, and they just keep wanting more and more. He's like the other guys Temari's dated. They all wanted to use her for one thing, and then just toss her aside," He told me angrily. I sighed and shook my head.

"I don't think Deidara is like those other boys. And even if he is you told Temari you'd stay out of it. She can take care of herself by now," I told him. Gaara stood up pushing his chair back in an angry way. Then he headed for the front door. "Hey, where are you going? Gaara come back!" I yelled for him.

"I'm going to Naruto's house!" he yelled and slammed the front door behind him.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I opened the van door and got out closing it behind me. "Good morning sleeping beauty," Sasori said sitting up and winking. I rolled my eyes at him and turned to Deidara.

"Did you have a good sleep?" he asked. I nodded and handed him his phone.

"Thanks for not waking me," I said with a smile. Deidara put his arms around me.

"Well you need your sleep, you've been up most of the time since we left Itachi's," he told me kissing my forehead. I blushed. Sasori shook his head and lay back down on the ground looking up that the sky.

Kisame and Itachi came around the van to the side we were on. Itachi opened the front door and put the bags down as Sasori got up and went over to them. "Hey love birds! Break it up the hug and come get some lunch!" Kisame yelled. Deidara and I stopped hugging and went over to them too. "I really don't know how you can put up with them," Kisame said handing Sasori a sandwich in a plastic container.

"I just ignore them and pretend they're not there. It's the only way I won't get sick to my stomach," he said with a sigh. Deidara hit him in the back of the head. "What was that for?!" he asked angrily.

"For your comment," he said grabbing two raps, one for me and one for him.

"I just think public displays of affection are sick," Sasori said opening the vans side door and sitting down.

"We weren't doing anything but hugging, and we're not even in public," he told him.

"I still conceder one person public," he told him. Kisame laughed.

"Or maybe you're just jealous and don't like seeing Deidara being like that with a girl you like," he said.

"Shut up blue boy!" Sasori yelled angrily throwing an empty plastic container at Kisame's head. Kisame glared at him and went to throw it back, but Itachi stopped him.

"We don't need to be fighting when we're only a few hours away from our first consort," he said taking the container from Kisame's hands and putting in back into a bag. Kisame just went and sat on the hood of the van.

After we all ate our lunches we climbed back into the van and sat down in the seats. Itachi pulled out on the street with the van, and drove to the place where The Akatsuki would be playing that night. It took him about fifteen minutes to drive there because it had been all the way on the other end of the city, but he took a few back roads to get there. "How does Itachi know about all these back alleys and where they go?" I asked Deidara.

"He doesn't know about them, he's just good at guessing. He has a good sense of direction I guess," Sasori said before Deidara could answer.

"That's a pretty good thing to have then," I said. "We were only on the main road and stuck in traffic at the beginning."

"Yeah, that's why we always have Itachi drive when we're going somewhere. He likes to get places really early, and he knows where he's going even if he's never been to the place before," Deidara told me as we go to the consort hall. Itachi pulled around to the back and parked where all the other bands would be in an hour or so. Then he turned to us.

"Since we're only the opening act," he started. "As soon as we're done we're getting in the van as fast as we can and leaving to the next place. There will be no after parties and we're only meeting with the fans that come back stage before the thing starts. After we're done we're packing back up and leaving. I want to get to the next town tonight since we're playing in the afternoon at the next place. It's going to be one of those concerts they have in the parks with the tents where everyone stays over night. After that we're packing up again right away and going to the next town because we have another concert that night. Once we're done there it will be the same thing, right to the next town, but we get a day of rest because that concert isn't until the night. So we'll have time to buy more food and stuff during the time we have to rest. I've also made it so that we get paid at every place as soon as we get there and are set up. So we don't need to worry about waiting to get our money after we play. We're going to continue on like this until we get back home for the big end of spring break party at the bar. Than the next day will be school. Now even though we will have been out putting on shows all spring break, and we're going to have a big party the night before, I still expect you three boys to be at school the next day for practice. I have the music room book every lunch until the end of the year and I rather not miss a day and waist the room." Deidara, Sasori, and Kisame nodded to show they understood. Then Itachi turned to me. "If you want to hear us play you're going to have to help us set up and then get a pass for backstage so you can come back after you hear us. But you're going to have to be fast. As soon as we're done our last song you can come back and help us pack, or at least be at the van by the time we're done packing. If you're not there by the time we're all in the van and ready to go we're leaving you. So I suggest coming to help us pack, it will be the easiest way to know when we're leaving," he told me. I nodded. "Good," he said. "Now let's all get setting up so we can start playing faster." We all nodded again and got out of the van.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I got to Naruto's house and knocked on the door. When Naruto answered I walked right in without an invitation and when straight to the kitchen and sat down putting my head on the table. Naruto stood at the door a little confused as I walked in, but closed the door behind me and followed me. After a few seconds he finally opened his mouth to talk, but closed it and walked away. He came back with Sasuke. "What the hell's wrong with you?" Sasuke asked me. I looked up at him and Naruto hit him. "What, you told me to come ask what was wrong and I did!" he yelled at him.

"Well you could have asked nicely," Naruto told him.

"If you wanted to have someone ask him nicely you could have asked yourself," Sasuke told him. "Or were you using me asking him as a reason to talk to me for the first time today?" Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and looked at me.

"So what's wrong?" he asked. I sighed and sat up not saying anything.

"Do you miss your sister?" Sasuke asked. I looked at him nodded slightly and then got up and went to the living room. I lay down on the floor, since they didn't have a coach, and looked at the roof as Naruto and Sasuke come into the room and sat down beside me. "Well it's not like she's never coming back," Sasuke said after a very long while of silence.

"I know, I just don't like her being around four boys that are about to graduate high school," I told him in muffled voice because I had one of my arms over my mouth.

"Gaara, I'm sure they won't do anything to her," Naruto said. Sasuke nodded.

"Itachi may be a jerk to people, and his friends are too, but that would never do anything bad to a girl they like. Even if they only like her a little," he told me.

"But Sasori already tried something," I told him. "I heard him in the background when Temari was talking to Kankuro and me on the phone the other day."

"He was probably just acting stupid to bug you because he knew it was you she was talking to," Sasuke told me. I sighed.

"Maybe you're right," I said sitting up and looking at Sasuke. "And I guess if even you can say they're ok, and wouldn't do anything, than she's probably fine." Naruto smiled at me.

"That's better," he said happily. "Now instead of worrying about your sister all break like an idiot, you can have some fun with us, ok?" I nodded. Spring break was going to be a lot more fun now that I wasn't over worrying about Temari.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I helped The Akatsuki set up their stuff and got my backstage pass from some guy the same time he gave Itachi the money for playing. As I headed to go out front and listen to them play, Itachi stopped me. "Remember, once we're done playing you come back," he told me. I nodded and went to the front of the stage.

I got to the front and looked around. There weren't many people there yet since we were early, but there was still a few. About half the people there were sitting with friends talking and waiting for the show to start, and the other half were standing on the floor close to the stage to get a better view of the bands. I walked over to the part of the stage closest to where you could go backstage so that I could leave faster to help the guys pack back up. I sighed and leaned against the bars they had set up so the crowed couldn't get too close to the stage. On the other side of the bars just a few feet away from me were some security guards there for extra help with keeping the crowd away from the stage. I looked around the big room again, and then beside me. I froze. If I knew sooner who the person now beside me was, then I wouldn't have went by the stage. I would have stayed back by the backstage place and left quicker after The Akatsuki was done playing. But I didn't know, so now there I was standing beside him. Beside the boy who had just moved to Suna. The boy who had broken up with me just seconds before needing to leave. I was now standing beside Shikamaru Nara.


	42. A Slap In The Face

**Temari P.O.V.**

I looked at Shikamaru for a few seconds. He had his back turned to me and was talking with some new friends. I turned away from him and started to walk quickly back towards the entrance to the backstage. But as I got close a hand wrapped around my arm and turned me around. "What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked surprised. I didn't say anything. I just shook his hand away, turned, and started to walk again. But he ran in front of me and I stopped. We looked at each other for a few seconds before I spoke.

"I'm here with my new boyfriend and his band," I told him.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm here with Deidara," I told him. He stood there stunned and I took the chance to walk around him. But he soon caught up to me and grabbed my arm again.

"You're dating Deidara again?!" he asked in a surprised yell. I nodded. "Why?!" he asked.

"What else was I supposed to do?" I asked Shikamaru as tears started to fill my eyes. "You left so soon and it really hurt. I didn't know what else to do. I don't know if you're coming back, not even you know. Deidara is a nice guy and really cares about me. And when he told me he was going on tour with the band he invited me too because he didn't want to leave me for that long and go that far away." Shikamaru didn't say anything. He just blinked. I turned my face away from his and whipped my eyes on my shirt.

"But I thought you loved me," Shikamaru said finally and I looked back at him. "You said you loved my. If you loved me you would wait for me to come back." I shook my head.

"I do love you, I'm just really confused at what to do right now," I told him.

"Well maybe this will stop your confusion," he said. I looked at him confused. But then he reached up and kissed me on the lips. My eyes went wide and when he pulled away I slapped him across the face. "What was that for?!" he asked holding his cheek.

"I'm dating! You can't do that!" I yelled angrily. Shikamaru opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by his friends calling him back. He sighed, mumbled a good-bye, and walked away. He took one more look back at me as he was walking over to his friends and, without thinking, I gave him a little smile.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I looked stunned at the phone. I didn't really know what to say. Gaara had just gotten back from Naruto's house, which was weird because usually he would have been home worrying about her every minute before she called, and we were now sitting at the kitchen table with Temari's cell on speaker talking to her. She had just told us about what happened to her while she was waiting for the Akatsuki to finish playing, and she didn't sound too happy.

"So Shikamaru just went up to you and kissed you?!" Gaara asked in a yell into the phone.  
"Well he talked to me for a bit, and asked me what was going on. And then he asked about me loving him, and then he kissed me..." Temari trailed off.  
"Well what did you do about it?" I asked. There was a pause for a few seconds.  
"I slapped him across the face," she told me. There was a moment of quiet, and then Gaara burst out laughed.  
"You really slapped him?!" he asked.  
"Yeah," Temari told him, and I sighed.  
"Why though, don't you still like him?" I asked. There was another pause.  
"Yeah, but he can't just kiss me like that right? I mean I am dating someone else," she told me.  
"I guess you're right," I said. Gaara was still slightly laughing beside me, and didn't seem ready to say anything, so I continued. "So where are the guys anyways?" I asked her.  
"They're outside. They said I could sit in the van and talk to you guys privately while they had a boring conversation about their plans for the concert tomorrow," she told me. "We shouldn't actually be parked anywhere right now, though, but since I helped pack up, and we are out of food, Itachi stopped at a gas station. We'll be leaving soon." There was a pause. "Actually we're leaving now," she told me. "I'll talk to you guys later, bye." I said good-bye to her and so did Gaara, but he was still laughing a little so it didn't sound too clear. Then we hung up the phone and went to bed.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I walked to my room still smiling. I couldn't believe Temari actually hit Shikamaru across the face. I was slightly amused by it, and proud. She never hit anyone before, and I could just image her doing it in my head. But in my head it looked way funnier then it probably actually was. Still I kept thinking about it and laughing. Shikamaru was probably really confused and shocked at this moment, and I would have paid to see the look on his face when she hit him. Anyways, it was just too funny to forget, and I thought about bringing it up again later. Like when Temari gets home, or when Shikamaru comes back.

I got into my room and fell down onto my bed. I didn't really want to sleep yet, but I got into bed anyways and closed my eyes. Still thinking about what it would have been like to actually see Temari hit someone, I fell asleep.


	43. Shikamaru's First Attempt

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

Gaara and I got up earlier than normal. We were going to go walk around the town with Naruto, Sasuke, and Lee who had all apparently been really bored so far this spring break. Lee had come over the night before, on his way home from his mom's restaurant, to ask if we would do something with him, and we said yes. Then Gaara asked Naruto and Sasuke to come. Naruto told him yes almost instantly, and then bagged Sasuke to come until he gave in. So now Gaara and I were making breakfast and waiting for the other three to come over.

We finished making breakfast, and sat down to eat. When we were halfway done though, Temari's cell, which was sitting in the middle of the table, started to ring. Gaara was the first to reach for it and see who was calling. I watched as his eyes went wide and he answered it. "Hello?" he asked. There was a pause. "No she's not here...Gaara...Why?...She's using Deidara's while they're gone...So she can talk to us...No...Because...I said no!...Good bye!"

Gaara hung up the phone and put it on the table with an angry sigh. "Who was it?" I asked curiously.

"Shikamaru," Gaara told me as he started eating his breakfast again. I raised an eyebrow.

"Why was he calling?" I asked.

"To talk to Temari, and when I told him she was using Deidara's phone he asked for his number," he told me like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I sighed and picked up Temari's cell phone. "What are you doing?" Gaara asked.

"Calling Shikamaru back," I told him in the same voice he had used on me moments before.

"You're not going to give him Deidara's number are you?" he asked. I nodded. He just shook his head and didn't look at me as he continued to eat.

I went into the recent calls list to the last number that called and hit redial. On the other end Shikamaru answered almost instantly. "Hello?" he asked in lazy and annoyed voice.  
"Hey, it's Kankuro," I told him.  
"Oh, what's up?" he asked in a slightly happier tone.  
"I just wanted to know why you wanted Deidara's number," I said.  
"I really need to talk to Temari," he told me.  
"Wasn't the slap across the face enough? I don't think you need verbal harassment too," I told him with a sigh. Gaara looked at me from across the table with a confused look on his face that asked why I didn't just give Shikamaru his number. But I ignored him. I wanted to test Shikamaru to see how much he really wanted to talk to her.  
"You know about that?" Shikamaru asked trailing off.  
"Of cores I do, Temari tells me and Gaara everything that goes on," I told him. He sighed into the phone.  
"Well I really want to talk to her, so can I please have Deidara's number?" he asked.  
"Are you sure? Temari might not even pick up. You might have to talk to Deidara instead," I told him. There was another pause.  
"I don't care," he said finally. "I'll keep trying until I can talk to her. I would just go see her and try to catch up to the band, but I don't know where they are or where they're going. And I can't just leave my mom and dad while we're in the middle of trying to get this store working to go after her. So please, can you just give me his number?" I smiled. That was what I wanted to hear from him. I gave him Deidara's number, wished him good luck, and hung up the phone.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I lay down on the van floor pretending to sleep. It was the afternoon and I had already called Gaara and Kankuro to have a really short conversation with them. It wasn't anything interesting since nothing really happed since last time I called. But I found out that they were hanging out with Lee, Sasuke, and Naruto.

As I pretended to sleep I listed to the guys unpack their things to get ready for the show coming up in a few minutes. Deidara had convinced them not to bother me to help them while I was sleeping. He knew perfectly well that I was awake though, and told me to just pretend until they were on stage so I didn't have to help this time.

Soon the noise of unpacking was gone, and I could hear a song playing that I recognized as one of the Akatsuki's. I sat up and looked around. We were in the middle of an empty field parked behind a small stage. I got up out of the van and stretched walking around a little. I walked to the end of the stage and looked around the corner. There were a bunch of tents put up close together. The people closer to the stage were partying and dancing to the music, while the people farther back were sitting in lawn chairs just listening. I yawned and headed back to the van.

When the Akatsuki was done playing I helped them load up some of their stuff, and then got back into to van. I remembered what Itachi told me about him leaving me if I wasn't in once all the stuff was in the van. I couldn't really tell if he was joking about it or not, but I decided I rather not take the chance. I could never tell if Itachi was joking or not.

We were back out on the road driving in a few minutes. I sat with my head on Deidara's shoulder while he talked to Sasori. They were talking about something I didn't have any interest in, so I just ignored them. In the front Itachi and Kisame were fighting over if they should stop at the next town for food or not. I wasn't really interested in that either, so I just sighed and closed my eyes.

The only time I got even a little interested in what was going on in the van, for the rest of the trip to the next concert, was when Deidara's phone rang. It was close to dinner time and it startled everyone. No one had called Deidara at all during the trip so far, so Deidara just ignored it thinking it was some kind of telemarketer. But after a few minutes it rang again. Deidara kept ignoring it until it started to get on everyone's nerves. "Just answer the damn phone and tell them you don't want any already!" Kisame yelled from the front.

"No, then they'll be encouraged to call back because they know someone has this number," Deidara told him as his phone rang again.

"Dude, they're going to keep calling until they get an answer because they already know someone has the number," he told him. Deidara didn't say anything.

After that the phone stopped ringing. Deidara smiled. "See, I told you they'd stop calling," he told us. But everyone glared at him as it went off again.

"Just answer the damn phone!" Sasori yelled lunging at him and grabbing the phone out of his pocket.

"Alright, let go!" Deidara yelled. Sasori let go and Deidara answered. I listened closely to what he was saying. I was really curios as to who it was now. "Hello?...Who is this...No, tell me who this is first...I can't...Because...How did you get my number anyways?...No...She's sleeping...Because she's tired...Yes...What do you think she was doing in a van that would make her tired?...No...Just guess...I'll give you a hint, what do people dating usually do in a van?...Maybe...No you can't...I told you, she's sleeping!...Screw off, call again when she's not tired from 'making out' with me!...Maybe we did do something more...I don't know...I'm not waking her up to ask her anything...OK whatever, bye," Deidara said hanging up the phone.

I looked at Deidara confused, as did everyone else. "Who was that?" I asked. He smirked.

"Shikamaru," he told me. I went wide-eyed.

"And you wouldn't let him talk to me?" I asked him. "And what was that about me sleeping because I'm tired from, 'making out', with you?" Deidara laughed.

"I had to say something to get him to go away," he told me.

"Well you didn't have to lie to him and make him more jealous then he already is!" I told him angrily. He just laughed. "You know what, give me the phone. I'm calling him back," I said.

"No you're not," he told me.

"Yes I am!" I yelled lunging myself at him and reaching for the hand that had the phone in it. He pulled it away though, and I fell onto the floor. I looked up at him angrily as he stuck his tongue out at me. I tried again this time he put the phone above him head and I jumped on him knocking him down onto his back. He laughed as I reached for it, but then he threw it onto the floor and wrapped his arms around me putting me into a really tight hug. I struggled to get out of it, but he was too strong and I gave up.

I sighed as I laid there on top of Deidara unable to move with my face in his neck. The other three boys, I could tell, were trying their best to ignore us. Sasori was now sitting on the floor behind Itachi's seat talking to him and Kisame. They were talking to each other loudly to block out our fighting. "I hate you," I mumbled into Deidara's neck. He laughed.

"No you don't, you're just a little mad," he said turning his head slightly and kissing me on the forehead. I moved my head, the only part of my body I could move besides my legs, so that my face was above his.

"No, I think I really hate you now," I told him.

"Well that's no good. If you hate me that much, then I guess we'll have to dump you off at the next town," he said jokingly.

"Fine, whatever, as long as I don't have to be with you anymore," I told him. I was only half joking.

"Don't be mad," he said. "Do you really want to talk to Shikamaru that much?" I looked at him in the eyes angrily. He sighed and reached his head up kissing me on the lips.

"Do you still want to talk to him?" Deidara asked in a whisper when he was done. I looked away from him. He sighed again and let go of me. But I didn't move. He sat up making me have to get off him if I didn't want to fall off the seat again. Then I sat back down on it beside him not even attempting to go for the phone.


	44. Home Again

**Gaara P.O.V.**

The last day of spring break is one of the saddest yet happiest days of the year. Sad because it meant we had to go back to the torment of school until summer vacation, and happy because it mean the boredom of the last few days dragging on was going to be over soon. There were only three months of school left and then we were free for two months of summer break. I yawned as I got out of bed and looked at the time. It was only a few minutes before noon when Temari would be calling. I got out of bed and got dressed then headed for the kitchen where Kankuro was. I sat down at the table and waited. "I'm making some popcorn for lunch. We don't really have anything to eat anymore, and Temari's been gone so we don't have money to go out and buy anything," Kankuro told me as the microwave beeped. He took the popcorn out and put it into two different bowls, and then he pulled the last two cans of pop we had out of the fridge and gave me one. "So, school tomorrow," he said. I looked at him from over my pop can and raised an eyebrow.

"Have you really run out of things to talk about with me?" I asked. Kankuro laughed.

"Kind of," he said.

"Well anyways, at least school will give us something to do again," I said. He nodded.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I got a few more calls from Shikamaru in the days to pass, but I didn't answer them. With him calling as much as he did it seemed to make Deidara panic on the inside. He was trying to kiss me more, and spend as much time with me as he could just being close. That had made Sasori look a little jealous, and he spent most of his time sitting closer to the front of the van talking to Kisame and Itachi. I couldn't tell if Sasori was jealous over the fact that Deidara got to date me, or because I seemed to be taking his best friend away from him. Either way, I was just glad we were almost back home and I didn't have to sit in the smelly band van anymore.

It was just after lunch when we pulled up to Itachi's house. Deidara gave me his phone and I called Kankuro and Gaara. I told them that I'd be home later that night, or sometime in the morning before we had to leave to school. They didn't like that idea much, but I really wanted to spend time with Deidara before school started again so they didn't argue.

After the phone conversation Deidara and I got out of the van and walked up to the house. Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori had already gone inside while I was on the phone. We opened the door and almost walked into Kisame and Sasori. "What's going on?" Deidara asked.

"We walked into the house and Itachi saw some cupboards open. So he told us to stay here while he looked around," Kisame said.

"He thinks he's been robbed," Sasori added.

We stood there waiting for a few minutes. During this time we saw Itachi came from the upstairs and go to the basement. When he finally came up from the basement again he came over to us. "Well all they stole was food, and I'm pretty sure it was Sasuke," Itachi said and then looked at me. "Your brother was probably in on it too, and Naruto. There is way too much food gone for just Sasuke to carry." I crossed my arms.

"And how do you know for sure it was Sasuke and his friends?" I asked.

"Because they were in Sasuke's room that's through a door and down a hallway that someone would mistake as a deep closet, and no one would ever go in it," Itachi told me. I didn't say anything back to him. "Anyways, I'm just glad they chose not to take any of Sasuke's stuff with them. It could have been wrecked, or the neighbours could have seen and called the police," he said looked at everyone now. "And you guys can come in now if you want, I'll make some lunch." Sasori and Kisame kicked off their shoes and let Deidara and I in so we could take ours off. We shut the door behind us, and Itachi told us to wait in the living room.

Kisame took up the couch while Sasori sat in one of the armchairs and Deidara and I sat on the loveseat. Deidara put his arm around me and I rested my head on his shoulder as we waited. I could see Sasori rolling his eyes. He told Kisame to pass him the TV remote, and soon we were watching the spots channel. Itachi came in a few minutes later with some sandwiches, and made Kisame sit up so he could have a place to sit too. I moved a little closer to Deidara. It was only a few more hours before we had to leave to set up for the concert. Then once school comes we won't be able to spend as much time together. I wanted to make the time we had left before school count a little.

I called Kankuro and Gaara before we left to go to the concert to tell them I was leaving and would be home soon. Then I helped the guys set up and waited for them backstage. When they were done I helped them pack their things back in the van to leave, but they soon locked it up without getting in and headed back to the bar where the concert was being held. "Where are you going?" I asked Deidara running to catch up with him.

"Oh, well we were only the opening band. We're staying to watch the rest. And don't worry, we pulled some strings so you can stay too," he told me.

"You're kidding me, right?" I asked.

"Afraid not," Sasori said looking over his shoulder at me winking. "Now it's either you come with us and party a little, or walk home." I stopped and put my hands on my hips. Deidara sighed and turned to look at me.

"What?" he asked.

"Again, the same bar, of the reason I dumped you the first time?" I asked him. Deidara sighed and looked back at his friends.

"I'll see you guys later," he said. Then he looked back at me. "Come on I'll walk you home," he told me. I smiled.

"Thank you," I said.

"Oh come on, I wanted you guys to party with us!" Kisame yelled.

"Yeah, especially Temari," Sasori said winking. I rolled my eyes.

"Maybe when I'm actually old enough to drink," I told him sarcastically and headed off towards my house. Deidara hesitated for a second, but soon he was back by my side walking with me.

We got to my house and Deidara walked me to the door. "Can I come in for a bit?" he asked. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Oh no, I don't mean it that way," he laughed. "I want to talk to your parents and thank them for trusting me to take you for the whole break." I shook my head.

"They're in bed by now. They have to get to work early in the morning. I'll tell them for you though," I told him.

"I want to tell them myself though. Shouldn't they get to meet the guy that's dating their daughter now, and had her gone so long? I'm sure they met Shikamaru when you were dating him, didn't they?" Deidara asked me. I just sighed.

"It's ok really," I told him. "And I can promise you they never met Shikamaru either. They're very busy all the time. It would be rude to bug them." Deidara crossed his arms and stared at me. I leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the lips. "Please, its fine," I told him when I finally pulled away. He just sighed in defeat, said goodbye, and left. I didn't know if he was going back to the bar or not, but I didn't care as long as I wasn't there. I watched him walk up the street, then I turned and went into the house to see my two brothers I hadn't seen the whole break, and to get ready for school.


	45. The Rumour

**Gaara P.O.V.**

My first day back to school after spring break, and it sucked so far. It's only the start of the first class too.

I got to the school later than usual with Temari and Kankuro because we couldn't get Temari out of bed. When I got to my locker there was a stupid sign posted on it. I pulled it off and read it. All it said was 'We' and had an arrow pointing down the hall. I sighed and crumpled it up throwing it in the garbage. There was obviously something going on, but I didn't really care at the moment. All I knew was that a few people around were laughing behind my back. "Just ignore them Gaara, it's not like they're laughing at you. What's to laugh about?" Kankuro asked and Temari nodded. Temari was being unusually quiet this morning. It was probably because she was so tired. I sighed.

"I guess," I told them as we went our separate ways through the halls.

I got to Science and sat down at my table I shared with Shino, Kiba, and Ino. Shino and Ino were already there talking to each other in whispers. They had left Chouji out again and he was sitting at his table he shared with Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto. When I got to my table I dropped my binders and text book on is making a loud thump sound. Ino and Shino jumped looking up at me while Chouji looked over from the other table. "I'm sorry, did I scare you?" I asked with smirk as I dropped my bag on the ground it making another thumping sound. Ino glared at me.

"Must you sit here?" she asked.

"Well, since it is my assigned seat in this class, yes I must sit here," I told her. Her glare intensified.

"It's bad enough that you and Kiba screwed up all our experiments before Spring break! You don't need to be a jerk and mess them all up again now that it's over! And you defiantly don't need to interrupt our important conversations!" she yelled at me.

"I'm sorry did I interrupt you retelling Shino your whole break, which he was probably there for, or where you planning your next date?" I asked her. "Either way I'm pretty sure I saved the boy from you boring him to death." Ino's eyes went wide and almost looked like they flashed red.

"What's with you, did you really become more of a jerk over the break?! Usually you'd just leave us alone!" She was almost screaming now.

"Well, since I had a pretty boring Spring Break, not that you care, I thought I might as well make up of it by getting as much fun out of bugging you as I could before the year ended," I told her with a shrug. "And why are you over here talking anyways? Shouldn't you be letting Chouji in on whatever you're talking about? Or were you actually talking about private date plans?" Ino stood up clenching her fist.

"I hate you so much," she said through clenched teeth. "And we're going to get you back for all that you and your friends have done to the popular group this year." I laughed.

"Yeah, I kind figured that," I told her. "And I suppose that sign on my locker was from you too? I don't know what you were trying to do, but maybe you could try better next time. I mean I'm glad you know how to spell at least one word and know what an arrow looks like, but 'we' doesn't really mean anything unless you can put it into a sentence." Ino's fist and teeth unclenched.

"So I take it you haven't talked to any of your friends this morning?" she asked in a cold voice.

"And I can say that's none of your business," I told her in my calm voice. She just gave a chuckle.

"Come on Shino, we're leaving," she said and walked away Shino following her.

"Class is starting in about five minutes! You better hurry back!" I yelled after her and she gave me a rude hand sign.

I sat down in my chair smirking at how mad I had made Ino. _I know I shouldn't bug a popular kid that much since she knows so many people and has all this power, but it's too fun to let up._ As I sat there I took out a pencil and started playing with it. I was bored now and it was all I could do to stay awake. I looked up at the clock. There really was five minutes until class, and I wondered where Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata were. "You know Ino and Shino did put that on your locker," Chouji said from his table.

"So, what's it supposed to mean, I mean it's only one word," I told him not looking over at him. "And shouldn't you take the blame too. You're their friend and usually do everything with them."

"It's part of three more sheets. Ino handed out yours, Naruto's, and Sasuke's locker number to a few popular kids this morning and gave them the order to go see them. Soon the whole school will see them. But I'm guessing you took yours down and so did the other two, but the people that never saw them will find out by gossip," Chouji told me and then sighed. "I would take the blame, but I've been telling them I don't want to do anything that'll get me in trouble right now so they've been ignoring me. When you interrupted them they were in the middle of making another plan to mess with you guys." I looked at him and blinked. I didn't know why he was telling me these things, but I wasn't complaining either.

"Oh, thanks for telling me," I said looking over at him now. He just smiled a little as Kiba, Sasuke, and Naruto, came racing in.

They came straight to my table Naruto sitting down beside me, Sasuke on the other side standing up, and Kiba sat across from me leaning over the table. They all looked very annoyed at something. "What's wrong now, guys?" I asked. Sasuke and Naruto pulled out two sheets of paper and showed them to me. Each one had one word on it. Naruto's had an arrow at the bottom, like mine had, and Sasuke's had a smiley face.

"These, are what's wrong!" Naruto yelled putting his sheet on the table in front of me. Sasuke did the same thing. Naruto's paper said 'loves' on it while Sasuke's said 'guys'.

"We asked Kiba if he got anything on his locker, but he said he didn't see anything so we went and looked again. Then Naruto figured we'd come ask you about it since people were talking saying 'have you seen those signs on those three guys locks?'" Sasuke told me. I sighed.

"Yeah I got one," I told them. "Mine just said 'we' though. It was one of Ino and Shino's brilliant ideas to get back at us."

"What about him?" Kiba asked glancing over at Chouji. I shook my head to tell them he never had anything to do with it.

"Well you know the whole school thinks we're gay now," Sasuke said crossing his arms.

"And it's really believable too," Ino said smiling as she walked into the class with Shino. "Seeing as Gaara doesn't seem to have an interest in any of the girls here, and you two go everywhere together. There was even a rumour started after Christmas that you two are living together at Naruto's house now." I glared at her.

"Why are you so happy? I thought I made you go cry somewhere," I told her in a growling tone. She laughed.

"After seeing the effect of what I did with just three little words it really cheered me up. Think of what I could do to you guys if I actually tried," she said. She was the one smirking now. "So if I were you I'd stop this whole 'destroy the popular group' thing, and we can all go back to our lives."

"Only thing is even if we do stop you'll bug us anyways, so I don't see a point in stopping," I told her. "We're just evening things out if we continue." Ino crossed her arms and opened her mouth to say something, but Shino cut her off.

"If you stop now we'll get you four into the popular group," he told us. "We're missing people now anyways." No one said anything. I wasn't going to be bought by them and I was ready to tell them that, but I didn't know what the other three were thinking.

"No thank you," Sasuke told him. "I was a popular kid once and I'd rather not go back." At Sasuke's comment I jumped in.

"I don't think any of us are willing to join you," I told Shino. Naruto and Kiba agreed. Ino and Shino were going to say something to us, but the bell rang. Hinata came quickly into the room sitting at her table, and Sasuke and Naruto went to sit with her. Ino and Shino sat down with Kiba and I as the teacher came into the room early for once.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I walked down the hallway towards my class. As I walked I passed by Naruto's locker where he, Kiba, and Sasuke were standing looking very annoyed. I stopped for a second a short ways away wondering if it was any of by business to ask what was going on. In the end I decided to go over to talk to them. "Hey guys, what's up?" I asked as I crossed the hall coming up behind them. They stopped talking and looked at me with angry faces.

"Someone's being a jerk, that's what's up," Naruto said crossing his arms. He and Sasuke were both gripping pieces of paper making sure the fronts of them weren't being shown. Kiba was glaring past me at something. I turned around and saw a group of girls coming towards us. As they walked by they looked over at Naruto and Sasuke. Then they went into a fit of giggles and started whispering harshly as they hurried away.

Naruto sighed and fell back against the locker sliding to the ground. "I hate school," he said with staring up at us.

"It'll be ok," Sasuke said walking over beside him. "Everyone will forget about it in a few weeks." Naruto glared up at him.

"Not if you keep coming near me like that!" he almost yelled. Sasuke backed away.

"Come on guys, there's no need to turn on each other," Kiba said with his hands out trying to calm him down as a group of boys walked up.

"Hey what's going on boys? The two love birds having a fight? I wouldn't worry about it. If they break up one of them can always go to the other boy," one of the boys in the group yelled as he walked up to us. His friends, and everyone in earshot, laughed. Sasuke glared at the boy who had spoken. "Oh, are we getting defensive now?" the boy asked as he started to walk away with his friends. "Don't worry, I bet if you apologize now you'll get a kiss!" Then they disappeared into the crowd of people.

Sasuke slammed his fist into the locker beside him. "Damn it, I'm going to kill someone!" he yelled. Kiba and I looked at him and blinked.

"I think we've had enough people from this school die for one year," I told him. Sasuke looked at me in confusion, but his expression soon turned to regret and panic has he remembered what had happened earlier that year.

"I didn't actually mean it, and I didn't technically do it the first time," he mumbled still angry.

Naruto slammed his head against the locker. "Frick, how many people know?!" he yelled as another group of people walked by and laughed. We looked down at him jumping a little at the loud noise he had made. He stood up, pushed past Kiba and headed quickly down the hallway.

"Where are you going now, Naruto, come back here!" Kiba yelled after him.

"I'm going to look for Gaara, we need to talk to him about this!" he yelled looking back only slightly. Some people nearby laughed.

"Oh, Sasuke's been dumped!" they yelled mockingly. Sasuke hit his fist against the locker again, and then followed Naruto quickly grabbing Kiba by the sweater and dragging him along as he went. I blinked and watched them go down the hallway at almost a run. I still had no idea what was going on, but I figured I'd find out soon since the rest of the school seemed to know what was happening.

I got to class and sat down with Tenten, Lee, and Neji. Tenten was talking to them excitedly about her trip to Hawaii. "And then we went on a tour of the Volcano's in a helicopter, and finished the vacation off with another trip to swim with the dolphins," Tenten finished as she looked up at me. "Kankuro you missed my story. Oh well, I'll fill you in later, or get one of these two to do it," she told me. I just smiled at her. I didn't really care if I heard the story right now. It would make my break seem even more boring than it was.

"It sounds like you had fun," Neji told her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked crossing her arms.

"Well without you around, all I did was help my uncle out with some things in the house while Hinata went out with Kiba every day," he told her with a sigh.

"That's not true," Lee told him. "You came and hung out with Kankuro and me for one of the days."

"Yeah, one of the days," Neji repeated in a kind of mumble.

"Well, why didn't you ask your uncle for some money so you could come with my family on the trip? I'm sure he could have pulled some strings too and gotten you on the same flight and everything. He is a very powerful man," Tenten told him like it was the most obvious solution in the world. Neji shook his head.

"I would never ask my uncle for money or favours. Taking me in after my parents died was the only favour I could ask from him. Besides, after that I owe him now," he told her.

"Yeah, yeah we know the story. You're repaying his favour by being Hinata's slave, and doing whatever else your uncle wants you to do," Tenten said with an annoyed sigh.

"I am not Hinata's slave," Neji said angrily. "I just look out for her."

"So, like an older brother would look after his little sister?" Lee asked. Neji nodded slightly.

"If anything I'm my uncle's slave and Hinata's body guard," he told them.

"But wouldn't your uncle have taking you in be more out of love than a favour?" I asked cutting in too now. "I mean he is your family." Neji laughed.

"You obviously don't know how the Hyuga family works," he told me.

"No, I suppose I don't," I said with a sigh.

"So how was everyone else's break?" Tenten asked cheerily changing the subject. Lee jumped right in on the change and started telling us quickly about his Spring break, and soon it was like the other conversation hadn't even gone on.

A few minutes later the conversation had died down a little and there were some more people in the class room. They were talking close together in a corner of the class joking about something. When I looked up at them something I had been meaning to ask Tenten about came back. I was going to ask her about why everyone was picking on Naruto and Sasuke. She was still the main person for gossip in our group since she still had lots of sources from when she was popular. "Hey, Tenten," I said. She looked up at me. She had be texting with someone on her phone. "Do you know what's going on today? Everyone seems to be picking on Naruto and Sasuke," I told her. I was talking to her so that the only other people that could hear were Lee and Neji who were having an intense battle of Tic-Tax-Toe on the back page of one of their notes. Tenten's expression went blank.

"You mean you don't know?" she asked. I shook my head. "Well it seems like someone, most likely Ino and her group, made them the targets of the school for a while," she told me. "People have been texting me about it all morning. They keep asking me if I've heard the news about the new school love triangle. Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara, everyone seems to be saying, are now fighting for each other's love. There have been lots of different ideas about it though. It seems like no one really knows who is going after whom. The most recent theory is that Gaara and Sasuke are fight over who gets Naruto. It seems Naruto blowing up in the hallway about something and yelling that he was going after Gaara is the reason for this theory."

I looked at her and blinked in confusion and surprise. I didn't really know what to think about this rumour, except that it had obviously been made up by someone and that the papers Sasuke and Naruto were holding when I saw them were probably how the thing started. "I don't believe it though," Tenten added as if she thought I thought she believed it. "I would never believe a rumour Ino starts."

"I don't know why anyone would believe it," Lee said giving up at his game with Neji as he lost for, what looked like, the fifth time.

"Because she's popular so they think she's the queen, they have to follow her, and everything thing she says is true. Plus they probably didn't get much to gossip about over the break and this gives them something to do now that they're back," Neji told him like it was obvious. But of course it was obvious to Neji, he was the smartest kid in the school now that Shikamaru was gone and seemed to be enjoying it.

Lee opened his mouth the say something, but stopped when he heard cheering in the hallways. He looked over at the door as the other people that were in the classroom raced over to see what was going on out there. I looked over at the door too and then back at Lee, Neji, and Tenten. We all seemed to have the same idea. We got up and walked over to the door after the rest of our class.

In the hallway Ino and Shino were walking around. Everyone was up against the lockers, walls, and blocking the classroom doors to make room for them. They were cheering and shouting random things at them. "Way to go Ino,"  
"Ino, you know so much about everyone!"  
"I knew there was something going on with those three!"  
"Thank you for uncovering the truth for us Ino!"

Ino stopped in the middle of the hallway by the classroom Lee, Neji, Tenten, and I were currently trapped in from people standing in front of the door. "Now, now people! Don't give those three too much of a hard time, we should be accepting of everyone!" she yelled to the crowd, but she was obviously being sarcastic. "I think what you're all doing now is good enough, we don't need anyone getting hurt. Got it?!" she yelled to everyone. The people nodded.

I clenched my fist. I couldn't take anymore of Ino, and where were all the teachers while all this was going on? I opened my mouth to yell something at her, but Neji beat me to it. "It's clear that you made up everything about those three, Ino! Why don't you give it a rest already?" Neji yelled at her. The people around us turned to look at him, and Ino and Shino stepped towards us. The crowd moved out of the way so they could get through.

"Me, make something up? Why would I lie to my fellow students when they think so highly of me? I have no need to lie to them," she said smirking.

"Hey, where's your other body guard, Chouji?" I asked her. She looked up at me with a glare.

"They aren't my body guards, they're my friends. And if you must know, he didn't want to help me and Shino with informing the school about this love triangle. He decided he'd sit this one out. It's a pity, though, he's missing out on all the parsing," she told me coldly.

"He wanted to sit out of this one because he knew it was a lie and didn't want to get involved! Face it Ino, you're just mad because your last plan to get those three failed," Neji told her.

"Well aren't we smart?" Ino said in a cold whisper so only Neji and I, because I was standing beside him, could hear it. Then Ino raised her voice again so everyone else could hear. "I'm sorry I have no idea what you're talking about. And why do you care what I do to those three anyways? I can understand Kankuro's concern because one's his brother, but you I don't know," she said trailing off like she was thinking about something. "Is it because you think I'm going to do something to your cousin for willingly leaving the popular group? Now that I think about it, that could be considered a crime considering whom she's friends with now. It's almost like betrayal." Neji went wide eyed as everyone around started to whisper to each other.

"Don't you dare do anything to Hinata," he told her coldly. Ino laughed and started talking to him in a whisper again.

"I'd be careful what I said and did from now on if I were you," Ino told him. "We don't want a nasty rumour about you going around, now do we?" She looked up at Tenten. "And as for you," she said. "You're the same as Hinata. I'll leave it to you to tell her to watch out. You do love to hear and talk about the latest gossip from what I remember." Then she turned to Shino. "Now I think we better get back to class, the bell will ring soon," she told him. Shino nodded and turned to lead the way for her back to their class.

"If she wasn't a girl I would have knocked her out," Neji said turning and walking with Tenten, Lee, and I back to our table. Lee and I nodded.

"I would have knocked her out for you guys, but I'm not sure what that crowd would have done if I did," Tenten said with a sigh as we sat down and waited for the bell to ring.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I walked down the hallway towards my first class. There were lots of people whispering and laughing or giggling as they gossiped about something. I couldn't tell if they were just talking about their Spring breaks or something else. I knew for sure, though, that most of them were talking about the same thing from random parts of conversations I caught.

I got to my classroom but I was stopped by someone calling my name. I turned and saw Deidara walking quickly up to me. "Oh hey, how was the rest of the party at the bar last night?" I asked him. He stopped and blinked at me.

"What?" he asked, and then shook his head. "That's not important right now. I need to tell you something."

"So you did go back to the bar and party," I said putting my hands on my hips.

"Yes I did, I'm not going to lie. But that's really not important right now," he told me. I didn't say anything, and he took it as a sign to continue. "Your brother and his friends are the laughing stalks of the school. They're getting bullied and laughed at and everything," he told me. I went wide eyed and clenched me fist.

"What why, what happened who did it?!" I exploded. Deidara flinched a little.

"I think it was Ino, she seems pretty happy with herself today," he told me. "But it's because of this rumour going around. According to it Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke are the new love triangle in the school." My jaw dropped. "I'm actually really sure it was Ino, everyone seems to be praising her today," Deidara told me.

"I'm going to get that girl," I said through gritted teeth as I clenched my fists harder. I started back up the hallway the way I had come, but I was stopped. Deidara had grabbed onto my wrist and was pulling me back into him. He was too strong for me to get away from and he ended up pulling me into a hug.

"I know you're mad, but don't go doing something you'll regret," he told me.

"But I won't regret what I'm going to do, I'll enjoy every second of it! Just like I enjoy every second doing what got me kicked out of my first school!" I told him at just under an angry yell. He didn't say anything, just sighed and held onto me until I stopped struggling and calmed down.

"Do you really want to go back to the way you were before you came here?" Deidara asked me. He had loosened his grip on me but I didn't try to get away from him.

"If it'll teach that girl a lesson, then yes," I told him coldly.

"Well I don't want you to," he told me. "I don't think I like this old Temari, from what I've heard about her anyways."

"And what have you heard about her?" I asked looking up at him.

"Just what you told me now," he told me with a small smile. I sighed.

"Can I at least help with getting her back with another prank if the others ask?" I asked him in a pouting tone. I didn't really care if I got his permission from him, though, I'd do it anyways. He sighed too now and let go of me. I took a step back from him.

"You can do whatever you want, just don't let me find out about it," he told me winking and turning his back to me. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to class." I said goodbye to him, and he walked away.

I watched him go to the end of the hall and up the stairs. Then I turned to go into my classroom, but was stopped once again. As a turned around I almost jumped at Hinata standing there staring at me. She didn't look too happy, and had her arms crossed. "Hinata, what's wrong?" I asked her. She dropped her arms to her side.

"I'm sorry about this rumour Ino's started," she said holding onto her right elbow and biting her lip.

"Why are you sorry? It's not your fault she's the biggest bitch in the school and can't handle the fact that we've almost beat her," I told her crossing my arms now.

"B-but, I could have stopped this whole rumour," Hinata told me starting to do the nervous stutter she'd gotten rid of. I raised an eyebrow at her. "I-I was nearby when she was putting the signs up. I-I could have taken them down and stopped all this, b-but I was scared someone would see me a-and they would do something to me too," she told me her eyes filling with tears. "I-I'm a b-bad friend. I-I just c-couldn't risk it f-for my f-friends when I-I know t-they would h-have done it f-for me." The tears were trailing down her face now and she was looking away from me her hair in her face. I couldn't look at my best friend when she was like this. I grabbed Hinata's wrist and pulled at it dragging her down the hallway towards the girl's bathroom. She followed without question or pulling back.

We got into the bathroom to find a group of girls standing at the other end of it talking about something. I made sure the door slammed behind us. Hinata flinched and the other girls looked up at us. I glared at them. They looked at Hinata, back at each other, and then left the bathroom quickly and quietly without giving us a second glance.

I brought Hinata to the end of the room the other girls were just at and looked at her as I leaned against the wall. She looked beside her at the counter, and hopped up onto the empty space on it to sit down. Then she looked at me. There were tear marks down her face where her make-up had run, and her eyes looked a little red. "Now," I said. "I stand by what I said the first time. It's not your fault." She shook her head and opened her mouth to say something, but I didn't give her the chance. "No, it's really not. It's all Ino. You're not the one who started the rumour, so it's not your fault," I told her.

"B-But I could have s-stopped it from h-happening," she told me. I could tell she was holding back tears again.

"It doesn't matter," I told her. "I'm glad you didn't risk anything for Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke. They know how to take care come themselves, Hinata, and they would have been upset if you stopped Ino only to get yourself caught up in something. I know for a fact they would much rather have something happen to them than to you. Plus Kiba and Neji would be pretty upset with them if they found out something happened to you because you were helping them."

"B-But I want to b-be able to h-help my f-friends. I-I haven't done a-anything yet to e-even deserve them," she sniffed.

"But you have," I told her. "You've been loyal to them, and you even gave up being popular for them. You're a great friend, Hinata. Even if you don't see it, everyone else does. You have no reason to be beating yourself up like this." She didn't say anything. She just bit her lip and started to play with the zipper on her sweater. "I hope you trust me on this," I told her and she looked up at me. "I don't like seeing my best friend cry over something that's not even her fault." She nodded and I gave her a small smile. "Now let's get you cleaned up, and no more crying," I told her. She nodded again and hopped off the counter. Then I helped her clean up her face and fix her make-up.

When we were done there was only a few minutes left before the bell to start school rang. "What am I going to do if I don't get to class on time? It's all the way on the other end of the school," Hinata said her stutter gone, and her normal way of talking to me and her other friends back.

"Isn't your teacher always late anyways?" I asked her. "That's what Gaara tells me."

"Yeah, but Kiba's going to worry about me if I'm not there on time. I'm always there on time. He'll think something happened to me and come looking for me," she told me. I laughed a little. It was cute how much Kiba cared about her.

"Ok, well I know some shortcuts I could tell you. Deidara showed me them a while ago," I told her. She went wide eyed and a smile went across her face.

"Thank you," she said. I smiled back at her and told her the fastest way I knew for getting to where her class was. She nodded, thanked me again, and walked away. Then I was finally able to get into my classroom.


	46. Rumours Round 2

**Gaara P.O.V.**

Kakashi looked out over the class. He was early, in his case anyway. He sighed and looked down at his desk, and then back at us. "Well," Kakashi said. "Since you've been good for the past while, and since it was just spring break. Against my better judgement, I've decided to give you all a clean start and let you sit wherever you want. And yes, that does mean I'm going to let your table have five people at it Naruto."

At first the class didn't do anything. We thought he was joking and as soon as we started to move he'd laugh and say he tricked us. But he didn't. He just stared out over the class. "Well are you moving or do you want to stay sitting with the people you're with?" he asked. We looked around the room, and I nodded at Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata. They got up raced to the back of the room claiming the empty table there. Kakashi hadn't put anyone at it because we had a small class and he wanted everyone at the front to keep an eye on, but he did say we got to choose our spots. Kiba and I grabbed out bags and raced to the back taking a seat at the table with the other three. And, like Kakashi said, he didn't complain about there being five of us with one having to sit with their back to him. We talked it over for a bit about that one, and Hinata agreed to sit with her back to him. We worked it out so that I sat across from her. That way, since I'm the only one that takes notes besides her, she could copy off my sheets and the others would have an easier time paying attention.

Once everyone was seated where they wanted to be, Ino, Chouji, and Shino at the front table wanting to be as far away from us as possible, Kakashi addressed the class again. "Ok, now that you're all where you want to be. I expect you to behave and act remotely like you where when I assigned you seats," he told us. Ino raised her hand and he nodded to her.

"Wouldn't it be better if those five were an exception and couldn't sit together? I mean you know how they are. They'll mess it up for everyone before this class is over," she told him. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"You really think that?" he asked, and she nodded. "Then I guess I'll just have to make them each sit at a different table, and have you three apart sitting with the worst ones since you're so keen on keeping an eye on them," he told her with a smile. Ino opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it to think for a second.

"I think," she started. "That they're fine where they are for now. But, if they do act up only move the bad one to an empty table. But it is up to you, I mean you are the teacher." Kakashi's smile grew.

"Why thank you Ino, I'm glad you have a little faith in me to make a good choice," he said. Ino turned a little red and looked down at the table, probably embarrassed, while Kiba, Sasuke, Naruto, and I tried to hold in our laughter.

**Temari P.O.V.**

The beginning of lunch was normal until the lunch room started getting fuller. At that time people were talking quitter and kept glancing over at our table. Gaara, Sasuke, and Naruto were sitting away from each other thinking it might make it a little better. But that just made the whispers get worse. People were probably wondering why they weren't together like usual, and that it might be an end to the love triangle. "Do you guys want to eat outside for a change?" I asked everyone. They nodded and we got up and left the cafeteria.

On the way out we saw people whispering to each other still as we walked by. I quickened my pace and so did everyone else. We got to the doors of the school and Neji stopped. "I'll be out with you guys in a bit," he said turning around and walking back up the halls.

"Where's he going?" Gaara asked. "Can't be seen with us anymore now that Ino's spreading rumours?" I shook my head.

"He's probably going off to do something he shouldn't be doing now that Ino's up to things," I told him.

We got outside and sat down in the grass a little ways away from the school. It was nice out. The sun was shining and it was warm. Tenten sighed as she sat down and started to pick at the grass. "What's wrong?" I asked. She shook her head.

"It's just something Ino said," she told me. "She said I need to watch out because I 'betrayed' her and that Hinata needs to watch out too. Neji got really mad about that and now I think she's planning something against him too."

"I'm sure it won't be as bad as what she did to us," Naruto told her as he pulled up the grass around him angrily making dirt come up with it.

"I don't know, Ino's pretty evil when she puts her mind to it," Tenten told him.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, just don't bug her for a while," I told her. Tenten shook her head.

"That's the problem though," she told me. "Since I'm pretty sure Neji just went to do something he shouldn't be doing, like you said."

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

The lunch bell rang and we all raced back into the school to get our things and go to class. Tenten, Lee and I went together since Neji hadn't come out to lunch at all, and everyone started to worry about him. But when we got to class he was sitting at a table waiting for us. "Where the hell were you?!" Tenten yelled, but she sounded more relieved than angry.

"I was trying to fix things," he said plainly.

"What things?" I asked raising my eyebrow.

"The Naruto, Gaara, and Sasuke thing..." he said trialing off.

"And I'm guessing it didn't go too well, did it?" Tenten asked. Neji shook his head.

"You'll see by the time school ends what happened," he said with a sigh.

Neji was right. By the time school ended half of it was talking about Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke while the other was talking about a new rumour that had started. Tenten, Neji, Lee and I were walking down the halls together after school to meet everyone. We were stopped a few times by random people talking to Tenten and looking at Neji in disgust. "I can't believe you're still with him after his secret got out. You must either really like him, or are a real idiot," one girl said as we walked by.

"It's just a rumour, it's not true!" The four of us yelled angrily and the people around looked at us. We were sick of people stopping us to bug us about something so stupid. "Both rumours are lies, don't you people get it?!" we yelled together again. The other students just glared at us and went back to their whispering.

We got to the front of the school where Naruto, Gaara, and Sasuke were kicking rocks towards the school and at anyone who looked at them funny. Temari was trying to get them to stop by yelling at them. She was yelling about how they'd hit someone in the back with a rock and had to either stop or kick smaller ones. They choose to kick smaller ones, but Temari had hoped they'd choose to stop and was now yelling at them for it. Hinata and Kiba were standing there watching the four bored. When we got over to them Hinata looked up and moved closer to Kiba. This made Neji turn red with anger and finally reach his breaking point. "I'm sick of these rumours! People are so stupid to believe them," he yelled and then turned on Hinata. "And you shouldn't take them so seriously as to have to stay away from me! I obviously don't have a secret crush on you like Ino told everyone, you're my cousin! If you want to stay away from me until this rumour dies down than fine I'll go stay at someone else's house for a few weeks, maybe even a month! But that just shows that you're still not brave enough to stand up to these rumours and that maybe you should've just stayed friends with Ino to avoid all this since you can't handle when you're on the side that's being picked on!" Hinata didn't say anything. She just turned and put her face in Kiba's shoulder.

"Don't yell at her like that!" Kiba said angrily glaring at Neji. "You have no right to take your anger out on her! She didn't do anything!"

"She's being the same little wimp she's always been. Not being able to stand up for herself or her friends! I'm sick of it! I'm always the one being picked on either by her father or her old friends and she never has the courage to stand up for me! All she knows how to do is pick on me like them and boss me around! And she doesn't even say thanks for the things I do for her!" Neji told him.

Gaara, Naruto, and Sasuke had stopped kicking rocks. Temari had stopped yelling at them, they and the rest of the students around were frozen still listening to the fight going on. "She's stood up to Ino many times for her friends in the past year!" Kiba told him. "She left Ino for us and she hasn't been bossing you around in public anymore! She's trying her best to change! She isn't even scared to talk to people anymore!" Neji laughed.

"If she's changed she wouldn't be hiding her face in your shoulder making you talk for her!" he told him.

"Maybe she just doesn't want to yell back at you and seem like she's bossing you around again," Kiba growled. Neji opened his mouth to speak again but was stopped by a sudden slap across the face by an angry Hinata who had had enough and was glaring at him now. He put his hand up to his cheek as Hinata pushed Kiba away and ran away up the sidewalk.

I put a hand on Neji's shoulder. "Good job, now you've made her cry," I told him. "Who knows what'll happen to you now if she tells her dad." Neji went wide-eyed. "So, whose house are you staying at Mr. Big shot?" I asked. Neji didn't say anything he just shrugged my hand off and ran up the sidewalk after Hinata. Tenten sighed.

"I better go help them," she groaned, but I stopped her and shook my head.

"They need to fix this problem themselves," I told her.

"Yeah, come on Tenten. Let's go home," Lee said grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her down the sidewalk. She wouldn't have moved otherwise. The only direction she wanted to go was towards Neji and Hinata. Kiba wanted to follow them too but I told him it was probably better if he just went home. So, even though he really didn't want to, he crossed the street and went.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I watched as Naruto flopped down on the grass and lay on his back. He stated to pull the grass up beside his head angrily and let out an annoyed, angry, groan type sound. "What's wrong now?" I asked.

"Ino's trying to tear this group apart!" he yelled sitting up and throwing the grass at a group of people that were looking at him and whispering. It didn't reach them though and they giggled at him.

"It's not going to work," I told him. "Neji and Hinata will fix things."

"Yeah but Sasuke and Gaara still don't want to be seen together or with me, and Sasuke doesn't even want to walk home with me anymore," Naruto mumbled.

"Who said we didn't want to be seen together or with you?" Gaara asked confused.

"And I don't remember saying I didn't want to walk home with you," Sasuke told him.

"I can tell by the way you guys act. You stay distant and don't want to get too close anymore when we're walking or anything," Naruto told them.

"Well it's not like we mean to, this things just gotten to us a little," Sasuke told him plainly.

"We're not going to stop being friends with you just because some blond chick says if we don't we're gay," Gaara told him.

"See, I told you. Everything will be fine. You'll see," I told him with a smile and reached out my hand. He grabbed it and I helped him up.

"We should get going home," Kankuro told us. "I don't want to stay here longer than we have to." We all agreed with him and headed up the side walk home.


	47. Trying to Fix Things

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I walked quickly down the sidewalk away from my house. It was early in the morning on the weekend, and the rumours at school hadn't stopped yet as far as I knew. In fact they had gotten worse. There were now rumours that Tenten had started cheating on Neji with a Collage student because of him cheating on her with Hinata, Kiba dating Hinata was only a cover up for his over the top love for dogs, Lee was dating the gym teacher, and Temari was cheating on Deidara with Kankuro. All these rumours were too horrible to be true in my opinion, but people still seemed to believe them enough to be telling all their friends about it.

I entered Naruto's house without knocking. The door was unlocked and I didn't feel like waiting to be let in. Besides, I was over enough to almost be living there. I kicked off my shoes and went straight into the kitchen where Naruto was sitting on the counter eating out of a box of crackers. He jumped a little when he saw me come around the corner and dropped them on the ground. "Geez Gaara, tell me that you're here next time!" he yelled.

"Sorry," I said picking the box off the floor and handing it to him.

"And how the hell did you get into my house in the first place?!" he was still yelling. I couldn't tell if it was out of anger or if it was because he was still a little surprised.

"It was unlocked, so I came in," I told him shrugging.

"Stupid Sasuke must have left it open again when he came back home last night! How hard is it to turn around and lock a door when you come in?! I swear one day we're going to be robbed, or found out, or something because of him!" Naruto said scowling over my head like he was talking to someone else behind me.

When I turned my head slightly to check over my shoulder I saw Sasuke was now standing there, with the fridge open, still in just his pyjama pants. He closed it with a half yawn, half sigh, and looked over at Naruto and I. "What's all the yelling about?" he asked sounding a little annoyed. Naruto glared at him.

"You're what all the yelling's about," he said a little coldly. Sasuke blinked.

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because, you keep leaving the door unlocked when you come home, how hard is it to turn around and lock it?!" Naruto asked yelling. Sasuke flinched.

"Pretty hard when you're about to pass out from exhaustion," he told him opening a cupboard. "Do we have any painkillers?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at him.

"Did you sneak into another party to drink?" he asked sounding concerned. Sasuke laughed.

"Oh no of course not, why would I ever have a need to go do that?" he asked sounding really sarcastic.

"I don't know, Sasuke, why would you?" Naruto asked through clenched teeth.

"Do we have any painkillers or not?" Sasuke asked leaning against the counter opposite Naruto and I.

"No, we don't! I told you before I don't buy them because I've never been in enough pain to need them before and they're too expensive!" he yelled at him jumping off the counter he was sitting on.

"Can you not yell, I have a headache," Sasuke groaned clutching his head.

"I've noticed you have a headache, and I'm not going to stop yelling at you just because of that! If you didn't want a headache you shouldn't have gone and got yourself drunk last night! Maybe if it was a headache for some other reason I'd feel more sympathy towards you!" Naruto told him getting louder.

"Why are you so mad at me?" Sasuke asked calmly as Naruto walked over to him and raised his hand up. I guessed Sasuke was holding back his own anger because he didn't want to make the pain in his head worse.

"Because you're an idiot, you're an underage drinker and you leave the doors on the house unlocked when you come home! If the police were to go to one of those parties and follow you home we'd both be in trouble!" he told him clenching his risen hand, lowering it, and walking out of the room. Sasuke watched after him and a few seconds later a door slammed.

"Why do I always end up coming over when your two are fighting?" I asked still looking down the hallway Naruto had gone.

"Because you always come over when Naruto thinks I'm being an idiot," he said sliding down to the floor still holding his head.

"Well he must think you are almost all the time than. I'm surprised he hasn't throne you out on the street," I told him hopping up onto the counter to sit on. Sasuke laughed.

"I am too," he said.

"So why do you keep doing it then?" I asked. Sasuke looked up at me confused. "Going out and drinking I mean," I told him.

"Because I'm an idiot just like Naruto keeps saying, and this time it was because I'm frustrated over these rumours," he told me. "I know that's not a good reason to do it, but it's the only thing that calms me down and clears my mind."

"Or is it just out of habit?" I asked him. He raised an eyebrow at me. "When did you start this?" I asked.

"When I still lived with Itachi and he was being an ass to me..." Sasuke told me trailing off at the end. Then he laughed again like he'd realized something. "I really am an idiot," he said.

"I'm not going to argue with you about that," I told him laughing.

I had just finished putting a few groceries away that Temari had bought the night before at her work for Naruto and Sasuke when Naruto walked back into the kitchen scowling. Sasuke was still on the floor sitting in the corner trying to ignore the pain in his head. "Just so you know, I'm not going to forgive you for practically killing yourself and almost getting us caught every weekend," Naruto told Sasuke as he sat back up on the counter.

"Then I guess I'll just have to stop before you hate me forever," Sasuke mumbled into his knees with a little laugh.

"That would probably be the best idea you've ever had if you actually follow through on it," Naruto told him picking up the box that was still sitting on the counter and stuffing his face with crackers.

"Don't eat because you're mad," Sasuke said still in a mumble without even looking up. Naruto swallowed.

"How do you know I'm eating, you haven't looked at me once since I walked back in," Naruto said taking a few more crackers.

"I know because I know you," Sasuke told him through a yawn. Naruto closed up the now empty cracker box and threw it at him. Sasuke just laughed.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I sat in the school field with my head resting on Deidara's shoulder. I had needed some time to be alone, but he insisted that he sit with me when he walked by and saw me alone. Kankuro wasn't very happy with the fact that I left him all alone at home. He thought it had something to do with the rumour going around about us at school, but I promised him that wasn't the reason and that I wouldn't let stupid rumours get to me. He didn't seem like he believed me much, but he let me go knowing that I'd leave anyways when he wasn't paying attention.

I sighed as I stared out onto the street. It was nice and quiet where we sat. No one usually came around the school on the weekends, and I was sad that I'd have to leave the peace of this place in a few hours to go to work. Deidara put an arm around me and smiled down at me. "You know I don't believe any of those rumours, right?" he said it as more of a statement than a question.

"I would hope you didn't believe them. They're pretty horrible, and if I was one of the people going to our school I'd have a hard time believing them," I told him. He laughed.

"Ino's just jealous of you guys, and she knows you could wreck everything that's taken her years to build in only a few days. So she's started to put up her defences," Deidara told me. "Plus she's probably still mad that I chose you over her." I smiled up at him.

"You're making this sound more like some kind of video game than real life," I told him.

"Isn't it better to think of this as some kind of video game where you're the main character so you can't actually lose, you can only get a little slowed down by puzzles the final boss put into place?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," I told him laughing. "Which means me and the others are stuck on this level until we can figure something out." He nodded and looked back at the street.

"I'm glad I get to be part of your adventure too, even if I am just a break that comes around once in a while," he said. "But I know I'm not going to be part of your break forever." I looked up at him and blinked.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I just have a feeling that something's are going to change soon. I just don't know if it'll be for the better or not," he told me seriously, and then smiled. "But I'm sure it will be for the better for you." I didn't know what to say. I just looked up at him still confused, but he just laughed slightly and kept looking at the street.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I walked quickly down the sidewalk towards Neji's house. Tenten had called me on her cell phone and told me to go see her, Neji, and Lee. She said it was urgent, but didn't tell me why. When I got there she was sitting on the frond step with Neji and Lee. Neji had his face in his hands and didn't look so good. Tenten and Lee were talking to him in whispers, but stopped when I got there and looked up at me. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Hinata kicked him out of the house," Lee told me.

"Her dad's not home at the moment though, so he doesn't want to leave until he get back so he can say goodbye," Tenten added.

"Why'd she kick him out?" I asked sitting down on the grass by the steps.

"Because I'm an idiot and a jerk," he told me lifting his head up from his hands. I could tell he'd been crying because his eyes were red. "I tried to fix things again when I got home with her yesterday, but she wouldn't listen. She slammed her bedroom door in my face and told me to go away. Then this morning she called Kiba over and kicked me out of the house. She hasn't gotten over what I said, and I don't blame her. I was horrible to her and everything I said was a lie, but she won't listen to me about any of it," he said slamming his fist down on the step.

"Well you did say some pretty bad things," I told him. I didn't want to make him feel worse, but it was the truth and he needed to know it.

"I know, and I shouldn't have said it. I didn't mean to make her cry or get mad at me. I was angry and it was an in the moment thing. I didn't mean any of it. But I guess I also half hopped some people would hear me yelling at her and see us fighting so that they'd start some rumour that didn't hurt her as bad. Maybe that she was heartbroken because I broke up with her and that we'd gone back to seeing people outside the family," Neji told me, Tenten, and Lee. "I'm such an idiot. I should have just gone with whatever plan everyone else thought of. Now I've really lost her. She's actually avoiding me now."

I heard the front door creak open and looked up. There was someone standing in the doorway on the other side. The person opened it more and I saw that it was actually Hinata and Kiba. I seemed to be the only one that noticed them though, since none of them looked up until Hinata talked, and were surprised when she did. "I-Is that really true?" she asked in her shy voice. Her eyes were red too showing that she'd also been crying.

Neji jumped a little and turned around to see her. "How long were you there for?" he asked her.

"Since I heard someone coming up the f-front steps of the house, I was in the living r-room talking to Kiba and I heard s-someone coming so I came over and opened the d-door a little and saw that it was Tenten. Then Kiba told me to stay here and listen. I d-didn't want to because that's eavesdropping, b-but I'm glad I did," she told him, she was still talking in her shy voice. It was a little weird hearing it after all this time, she'd gotten over it a long time ago when she was around us.

Neji looked down at his hands and started fidgeting with his fingers. "Yeah, it was all true. Everything I said," he told her in a sort of mumbled. Hinata started to cry again and flung open the front door. She knelt down beside Neji, Tenten had moved out of the way for her, and she wrapped her arms around him giving him a side hug.

"I never wanted to kick you out of the house, I didn't want to be mad at you, and I'm glad you didn't leave when I told you to," she said chocking on her tears. "You're just an idiot sometimes. You're really smart, but you're a real idiot when it comes to social skills." Neji laughed and she laughed too. He put one arm around her, his free one, and I saw he was crying a little too now.

"You should listen next time before ignoring me," he told her.

"I'll think about it," she said and Neji laughed again.


	48. Gaara's Big Plan

**Temari P.O.V.**

"I just don't get it!" I yelled as Gaara, Kankuro, and I got to our lockers.

"Don't get what?" Gaara asked with a yawn. Mondays always sucked for Gaara because it meant he went to bed the night before with the thought that he had school the next day after a good weekend of doing nothing. I tried to fix this a few times for him when he was younger, but nothing ever seemed to work so the three of us just learnt to accept it.

"I don't get why these rumours are still buzzing around! It's been a whole week, and it's obvious they're not true! How to people keep it up?" I asked still yelling. I didn't care who heard. After such long drawn out rumours nothing mattered anymore. I learned to accept them.

"Ino just has that effect on people," Kankuro said slamming his locker as a group of people walked by watching us and laughing.

"I think it's time we start our own rumour," Gaara said closing his locker too and turning to us.

"Like anyone would believe anything we thought of," I said with a sigh. "Not that I'm encouraging this." I added quickly. Gaara smirked.

"Too late, you already implied it," he told me walking by quickly.

"I don't care if I implied it I fixed that right away!" I told him angrily. "Besides, no one will believe anything you can think up!"

"You'd be surprised at the influence I have on people!" he yelled after me and then disappeared around a corner.

"He's going to do something stupid again, isn't he?" I asked Kankuro with a sigh.

"Probably," Kankuro told me. "But look at the bright side, things obviously can't get any worse for us." He started to laugh. I just sighed again as we headed down the hallway together.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

I entered my first block science class and went straight over to the table where Naruto and Sasuke were sitting. They were earlier than normal and looked up at me when I got to them. "I solved our rumour problems," I told them excitedly.

"What did you do? Make a giant brain washing machine that you're going to point at people after school as they walk out the doors so they forget all about them?" Sasuke asked in a very sarcastic tone.

"How did you know that was my first idea?" I asked in my own sarcastic tone. "But I couldn't find all the materials for that, so I chose something easier." Sasuke opened his mouth, probably for another sarcastic remark, but Naruto interrupted him.

"What was your idea?" he asked. I lowered my voice so Choji, who was also in the room sitting at his table, couldn't hear.

"Start a rumour about Ino, obviously," I told him smiling.

"I interrupted Sasuke to stop the sarcasm, Gaara, now what's your real plan?" Naruto asked scowling.

"That is the real plan!" I told him raising my voice. "I already have one ready." Sasuke laughed.

"They aren't going to believe anything we tell them," he reminded me.

"They will if it's actually believable," I told him lowering my voice again.

"Well what are you going to tell them then?" he asked crossing his arms not really looking convinced.

"I can't tell you here, someone might over here," I told him still in a low tone.

"Who's going to hear, Choji?" Naruto asked. "He wouldn't care much, or tell Ino and Shino what's going on."

"And how are you so sure?" I asked him raising an eyebrow.

"Because he doesn't feel like he fits in with them anymore. They keep excluding him in everything because he doesn't want to hurt us anymore. He feels bad he did in the first place," he told me.

I was sure Choji could hear Naruto and what he was saying. But he didn't turn or say anything to him or us about it. He just sat there quietly looking like he was just staring at his table. "And how are you so sure that isn't just a trap so we feel sorry for him and let him in? They'd have someone on the inside if that was their plan," I told Naruto raising my voice too so Choji could hear. I looked over to see if this made any kind of reaction out of him. I found when I usually figured someone out, they made some kind of nervous movement and tried to leave the area I was in so whatever they were covering wasn't blown. Choji didn't move. It was like he didn't even care that we were talking about him or that we were there.

"I'm sure about this because Choji's a really good guy. I've known him since Kindergarten, Gaara. He's not a bad person, just confused. Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, and I use to be inseparable. Choji was never a bad person, he always thought about everyone. But after Shikamaru skipped a few grades he got a little confused. He'd lost his best friend and he didn't really know what to do," Naruto told me. I gave a little chuckle.

"He still had you and Kiba, didn't he? You were still being good friends to him weren't you?" I asked. Naruto nodded slowly. "So then why'd he leave you guys for Ino? I don't see how leaving you was something a nice person looking out for his friends would do," I told him. "So why'd he leave?" I asked again. "He still got to see Shikamaru even though he was in a higher grade anyways, didn't he?" Naruto nodded again. It was like I'd made him lost for words.

I looked back over at Choji, still not moving. I was still talking so he could hear, and it bugged me a little that I wasn't getting a reaction out of him. "Maybe he left for the same reason Sasuke and Hinata did, whatever that was," Naruto said in a whisper looking down at his hands that were on the table now.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked him. He didn't answer, and I looked from him to Sasuke. Sasuke sighed.

"Hinata and I were also part of their group before Ino. I was Naruto's best friend for a long time, and Hinata was Kiba's," he told me in a slight mumbled.

"Ino took away all our best friends one by one, and we couldn't figure out why. And we couldn't ask Sasuke, Hinata, or Choji why they left for her or what made them leave because they wouldn't even let us go near them anymore," Naruto said. His hair was covering his eyes now so I couldn't see, but I was sure he was crying a little. "I didn't ask Sasuke why he left when he came back because I was just happy to have my best friend back," he added moving his hand to wipe his eyes. I saw Sasuke move as if he was going to take Naruto's other hand, but he quickly looked at me and made it look like he was stretching his arm out so he could rest his head on it like a pillow.

"I don't know if we all left for the same reason. But I left because of her threatening me. She told me she and Sakura would start rumours about me and them, and about me and Naruto, and basically just try and fuck up mine and Naruto's lives like she's doing now," Sasuke mumbled, but loud enough for Naruto and I to hear. "I left so Naruto wouldn't get hurt. I didn't really care if she did anything to me. I could live with them making my life hell, Itachi was probably worse than them, but I didn't want Naruto going through it too."

Naruto looked up from his hands. His eyes were a little red, but from what I could see he'd dried all his tears. He didn't say anything, but he smiled weakly at Sasuke. Sasuke smiled back. "That doesn't mean Choji did it for the same kind of reason," I told them. Naruto sighed.

"Well Hinata did, I'm sure of it, so that's two out of three. Why can't we make it three out of three?" he asked. I shrugged and turned around fully to look at Choji.

"Well, do you have anything to say about all this or not, Choji?" I asked him loudly.

Choji turned on his stool to face the three of us. He took a deep breath and let it out. "I left because I overheard Ino and Sakura say they were going to get everyone to torment Shikamaru about his intelligence. I didn't think that was fair, so I told them if they didn't I'd join them. They didn't really want me to join at first, but they figured the more the better so they let me. They didn't come to me at all. I just happened to hear them talking and went to them. I did it all to protect a friend," he told us this in a quiet tone. "But I was wrong to stay as long as I did, I should have left with the rest. But I knew if I did they'd bug Shikamaru with the older guys because I was the one who asked to join. So I stayed, and did whatever they wanted. But since Shikamaru's gone now Ino can't do anything to him, so I have no need to stay or help her with anything. Shino and Ino saw that I was starting to hold back after he left, so they started to slowly kick me out. They stopped telling me things, and they didn't want to announce me being kicked out because they knew if they did you guys would come running to me, and they figured it was better if I didn't have any friends." When he was done he turned back around in his seat and faced his table again.

We sat there quietly for a few minutes, before Sasuke decided to open his mouth. "I always thought you joined them for the girls," he said. Naruto hit him.

"Well you thought wrong. The girls might have been part of their plan to help everyone hate me," he said with a little chuckle. I let out a sigh.

"Well you're welcome to join up with us, I guess, if you're not going to be a double agent for them," I told him hesitating a little. I still wasn't sure. I hadn't known him as long as the rest of my friends, but from what I heard from them they still trusted him so I figured I had no reason not to trust him.

Choji chuckled and gave a weak smile as he turned back to us. "I would, but I can tell you don't really want me," he said shrugging.

"That's not true, we want you back!" Naruto yelled at him as he stood up and slammed his hands on our table.

"I'm only coming back if you all want me. If you don't it's not fair to everyone," Choji told him. Naruto opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off.

"We all want you, the more people the better I always say. I can learn to like you if I spend time with you," I told him with a shrug. He laughed.

"That's nice of you," he told me.

"I thought it sounded a little rude," Naruto said crossing his arms. Sasuke chuckled.

"It was a nice comment since it came from Gaara, Naruto, you should know that by now," he said. I turned and smiled and them a little and then turned back to Choji.

"So, you going to join us or not, I actually want to get my plan out in the open soon so we can put it in action," I told him.

"Sure, I'll join you guys," he said nodding.

After a minute more of discussion we decided that we wouldn't tell anyone else that Choji joined us. The less people that knew the better because it meant it wouldn't get out to the rest of the school and we could actually use Choji as our inside man. If he started showing interest in what Ino and Shino were doing again than we could get some inside info from him. He was the new addition to my plan. He'd start to show interest in them again, and tell them he only wasn't because he wanted everyone to think he'd been kicked out. He would tell them that he did that because he knew we'd pick him up right away and now he could get inside info for them on us, but he had to keep it like he wasn't with them so we'd still trust him. It was the plan I thought they might think up, but then realized they were too stupid to think of anything that good, and turned back against them. It would be fool proof for a while. To Ino anyways, she wasn't the smartest girl in school, or even our grade. "So what was your great rumour idea anyways?" Sasuke asked finally after I'd gone on about my plans for Choji and he'd accepted.

"Well you know that incident with Sakura on Halloween, and how no one knows who did it?" I asked him as if it was something casual now. I didn't want to give big details about what that incident was or that Sasuke did it though, because I still didn't feel so sure about Choji. But he didn't interrupt to ask me about it, so I went on after Naruto gave a little shudder and the three of them nodded. "I was thinking that we could start one about that. Say that what really happened that day was Sakura and Ino went off because Ino had something to say to her and thought the dance was the best time to confront her about it. We could say that Ino and Sakura went up to the roof for a little privacy because Ino didn't want a teacher to catch them, or someone going into the bathroom to overhear. And to add to it we can now say Choji went with them because Ino wanted a look out to tell them if someone was coming. Then we could say that Choji heard them start yelling, so he pressed his ear to the door to hear and heard something about Sasuke leaving the group and them blaming each other. And then there was a scream and Ino opened the door all panicked and told Choji to come with her and that Sakura would come later because she wanted some time alone to cool down, so they went back to the dance."

When I finished talking all three of them were staring at me a little shocked. No one talked for a little bit as it all soaked in, and then Sasuke started. "So you not only want to involve Ino in this, you want to involve me, Sakura, and Choji too?" he asked looking a little unsure. I nodded.

"How is that even going to work? I'm sure someone would eventually find a loophole in that and the whole Sakura thing will come back and people will start to try and figure out what actually happened again," Naruto told me glancing at Sasuke. I could tell he was feeling worried for him again.

"It would take a lot of thinking for them to figure it out though, wouldn't it?" I asked. They didn't say anything. I sighed and went on. "Ino, Sakura, Choji, and Shino did in fact leave the dance that day, remember? Shikamaru spilt some drink on Ino and they left together so Ino could clean up. That's when they could have gone up to the roof, and Shino could have gone to the bathroom but Ino didn't want to wait for him so she just took Choji with them. Because later they showed up to the dance again just the three of them. People would believe it. Anything could have happened in that time limit," I told them studying their expressions carefully.

"You really thought this through, didn't you?" Choji asked. "It's almost more of a fact than rumour with all the evidence you found to support it."

"And with you on our side to back it up and spread it, it's just that much more believable," I told him laughing.

"And if a teacher hears about this rumour it will get blown out of the water and some seriously bad things could happen," Sasuke told me still unsure.

"We'll deal with that when we get to it. But we won't get to it because Ino will eventually be able to calm it down herself," I told him. "So who's in?" I asked the three of them. They all sighed, but agreed after a moment's hesitation. "Good, so I'll expect you to start it, Choji," I told him.

"And how am I going to do that without Ino knowing I started it and wreaking everything?" he asked. I could tell he was slightly hoping that he wasn't going to have to help.

"You'll put a note or two in the people's lockers that you know will spread it of course. You've been with Ino and listening to gossip from other people. You should know who those people are," I said. He nodded reluctantly. "Good, just make sure it's the people that won't send it to Ino right away. It needs to spread first. You know people like that, right?" I asked. He nodded again and I smiled. Things were turning around for us already.


	49. And it's Begun

**Temari P.O.V.**

The next day the school was up and buzzing again. I didn't know what it was buzzing about, but the people were defiantly talking in a different tone than they had been when they were talking about us. It was a tone of slight disbelief, but the type of disbelief that said they felt stupid they didn't realize something before. What was even odder about it all was that people had stopped paying attention to Gaara, Kankuro, and I. We noticed this when we passed a group of kids that had been harassing us since the rumours got out, and they didn't even notice we were there.

I turned to Gaara after shutting my locker door. "What did you do?" I asked in confusion. I was almost positive he'd done something. He never jokes about getting back at someone for trying to hurt him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he told me with a shrug as he closed his locker too, but I could see a slight smirk on his face as a group of girls walked past. They gave one sharp glare at us before going on their way talking about whatever it was they were talking about. Not something that was very normal recently.

"No really, what did you do?" I asked him. "You're not going to get attacked for it, are you?" Gaara shrugged.

"For all the people in this school know I have no idea what's going on. I haven't done anything," he told me.

"Temari and I know you better than that though Gaara," Kankuro told him coming to stand beside me.

"You'll just have to wait and listen to the other people than if you want to know what's going on. I'm not blowing everything just so you can be in on it," he said tuning his back to us.

"Don't you dare walk away from us again!" I yelled at him, but he just kept walking waving slightly back at us as he went.

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

I watched as Temari kicked the locker beside her, which was hers, and left a small dent in the bottom. "I'm going to kill that little brat! What the hell's gotten into him!" she yelled not caring that the people around us were now looking in our direction.

"Oh come on. You know Gaara, once he gets an idea to do something he goes for it and doesn't let anyone get in his way. Even if that means he has to act a little differently for a while," I told her grabbing her shirt sleeve and pulling her down the hall to get away from the glaring eyes and harsh silence.

"He makes me so mad sometimes," Temari said in a normal tone again apparently noticing what was going on. "I want to know what everyone's talking about. I want to know what he did." I sighed quietly and shook my head.

"I'll ask Tenten about it later, she'll know," I reassured her. This seemed to lighten her mood a bit as I left her at a hallway intersection and headed to class.

I walked into the classroom and sat down at my seat with Neji, Lee, and Tenten. Neji and Lee were sitting in their seats wide-eyed listening as Tenten talked quickly and excitedly. "And so everyone in school thinks she did it! She's in huge trouble with the Tsunade! She and the teachers have brought her in for questioning!" Tenten was saying when I entered the conversation.

"Who did what?" I asked her raising an eyebrow.

"Ino pushed Sakura off the school roof! Everyone's talking about!" Tenten said even louder making the few people in the room look over at her and start their own little conversation.

My eyes went wide and my mouth opened slightly. "No she didn't," I said leaning in and talking quietly so the other people in the room couldn't hear. "Sasuke did, we all know that." My three friends nodded shivering slightly.

"But that's not what everyone else is saying. They're saying Ino did, and it got to the teachers. She's been in questioning since she got here just after us ten minutes ago," Tenten informed me talking quietly too now.

"But what I don't get is why someone would bring all this up again after so long just after everyone's finally gotten over it," Neji said looking as if he was in deep thought.

"Yeah, what's this going to do besides get people in an uproar again? Besides keep people off us for a while that is," Lee added in an almost whisper rubbing his forehead.

"Gaara did it," I said moving my chair forward and scraping it on the ground loudly for extra caution of people hearing. The other three went wide-eyed.

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"He said he was going to do something to get back at _her_. So this must be it," I told him.

"But how'd he pull it off? I didn't even know who the source of this and I usually figure it out right away," Tenten said staring at me. I shook my head.

"I don't know," I told her.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

When I walked into the classroom Kiba and Sasuke looked up at me grinning. "Well, you did it," Kiba said. "I hate to say it, but I didn't think it'd work." I walked over to the table and sat down across from Hinata who was looking completely confused.

"And Choji is?" I asked trailing off so someone could finish my sentence.

"With Shino wondering around the school waiting for Ino to be let out, where else would he be?" Sasuke asked me as if it was a stupid question I'd just asked. I ignored this though.

"Good and how many people know about Ino?" I asked them.

"Probably almost the whole school by now," Naruto told me a little tonelessly. "It's been nice to not have people yelling at me down the halls." Hinata looked back and forth from all of us as we talked before looking very confused and angry causing her to speak up.

"What are you guys talking about? Why are you so interested in Ino, Shino, and Choji all of a sudden?" she asked giving us questioning looks. I laughed slightly.

"What, didn't know hear?" I asked her. She raised her eyebrow at me. "Ino pushed Sakura off the school during the dance and has been doing a hell of a job keeping people from knowing until now," I told her. She went wide-eyed.

"What, no, I thought," She cut herself off looking at Sasuke and back at me. "What did you do?" She almost yelled.

Sasuke and I started to laugh. Kiba held his in because he didn't want to make his girlfriend feel bad and Naruto just didn't seem too amused with what was going on. "That's the same thing Temari asked me this morning," I told Hinata with a little smirk. "But like I told her, for all the school knows I didn't do anything." Hinata gave me a little glare.

"How could you stoop down to her level?" she asked raising her voice. "The rumours about us would have blown over in a few more days! Ino could get in serious trouble over this! You guys could get in serious trouble over this, and so could the rest of us! We were all in on what happened that night, after it did happen, and we didn't stand up and tell anyone about it! Do you even realize what you might have just done?"

That was the second time I'd seen Hinata this angry. The first being when she was mad at Neji. Sasuke and Kiba didn't look too happy about things anymore, and I let out a little sigh. "Nothing's going to happen. I thought this through, don't worry," I told her and looked at the others too.

"How do you know nothing's going to happen? I'm sure Ino has an alibi in Shino or Choji!" Hinata was still yelling at me and I laughed slightly.

"It's ok. We have someone on the inside. No one's going to find out the truth. The most that's going to happen is the principle figuring it was just another rumour and putting it to an end to it herself. And the most that's going to happen to Ino is her feeling what it's like to be on the other side of things," I told her reassuringly.

"I hope for all our sakes you're right," she said in a slight mumble and looked away from me at the table.


	50. Drama

**Temari P.O.V.**

I walked quickly out of class as the lunch bell rang. I'd heard the rumour everyone was now talking about from the people in my classes, and I wasn't too happy with Gaara. I skipped going to my locker and went straight to the cafeteria where Naruto, Sasuke, and him were already sitter. "I can't believe you did that!" I yelled at him slamming my books down on the table making the few people already in the room look towards us.

"Keep it down," he mumbled to me glaring.

"No! Tell me why you did it!" I continued to yell.

"People are going to hear," he told me through clenched teeth, and I let out an angry sigh. I picked my books back up and turned on my heel. "Where are you going?" Gaara asked me suspiciously.

"Away, I'll see you after school," I told him as I walked quickly back out of the cafeteria.

I walked as fast as I could against the other students. They were all heading to get food, but I didn't feel like eating much. I made my way down the halls and up to the second floor following the path I hadn't taken in a while but knew from memory. When I finally stopped I was outside a small classroom with the door closed. I took a deep breath before putting my hand on the doorknob and opening the door peering inside.

The room was empty besides a few chairs, a drum set, and microphones. I opened the door more to take a better look. There was only one person in the room, and he was sitting in one of the seats in the front row tuning a guitar. I knocked on the already opened door, but he didn't move. "Hey Sasori, where's Deidara?" I asked in slight yell. He jumped letting go of his guitar, lucky for him it was hanging from a strap around his neck, and he turned his head to look at me.

"Ever heard of knocking?" he asked me a little coldly.

"I did knock," I told him. "You didn't answer."

"It's called knocking and waiting outside for an answer," he mumbled turning back around and picking the guitar off his lap. "And I don't know where Deidara is, he should be coming soon though."

"Mind if I sit in here and wait?" I asked walking into the room and closing the door again without waiting for a reply.

"I'm guessing that the only choice you're giving me is yes?" he asked not looking up when I sat in the seat beside him across the small isle. I frowned at him.

"Why do you always act like you hate me?" I asked him.

It had been a question on my mind for a while, but I'd never been able to ask because we were either never alone or something else on my mind would make me forget about it. "Because you hurt my best friend," he said plainly as he played a few strings. "And I know you'll do it again. Deidara was an idiot for going out with you a second time."

"How could you know something like that? You can't tell the future," I snapped at him a little. He laughed.

"You could call it a very good guess than," Sasori told me looking up from his guitar. I raised an eyebrow at him. "I could make you hurt him right now if I wanted to," he told me with a shrug.

"And how would you do that?" I asked him. He gave me a smirk.

"I'm not going to tell you that, it'll wreak my fun," he told me.

"What fun? The fun you get out of fighting with me?" I asked and he laughed nodding. "You're such a jerk," I mumbled.

"Look," he told me. "I'm only a jerk because you're dating my best friend and I know you're no good for him. You're too young, and you've already hurt him once. The only thing good you've ever done for him is change his drinking habits. Other than that you haven't done anything except bring drama into his life that he doesn't need. He just doesn't realize you're no good for him because he's too trusting and nice."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asking him in a half yell my eyes going wide.

"You know as well as I do that you two are never going to last," Sasori told me. "So why can't you just stop this game and break it off with him now? It'll only hurt him more later and I don't want to see him like that again."

"I can't do that, Sasori!" I almost screamed at him.

"Why can't you?" he asked me, and I didn't say anything. "Prove to me that you're actually trying to make this work. Prove to me that Deidara isn't the only one trying in your relationship."

"How am I supposed to show you, what do you want me to do?" I asking still almost screaming.

"Tell me that you love him," Sasori told me coldly. "Tell me that you love him, and mean it."

**Kankuro P.O.V.**

We walked into the lunch room and sat down at our usual table. Hinata and Kiba were missing, and Naruto, Sasuke, and Gaara didn't seem to know where they'd gone after class. Temari was also missing, but all Gaara had to say on that subject was that she just seemed pissed off when she left. "What did you do to make her mad?" I asked him curiously.

"Why am I always the one being accused of doing things?" he asked me angrily.

"Because we know you did them without even having to ask," I told him with a sigh, "if you want us to stop than stop being so mischievous." He mumbled something under his breath that I couldn't hear.

I soon found out from Sasuke and Naruto that I was right, and Gaara actually had made Temari mad and leave. I also found out that Hinata was also mad at him and that was most likely the reason she wasn't with them. "Well they have a right to be mad after all the things that have happened. They're probably just sick of it, I know I am," I told Gaara as he attacked his fries he'd bought, with money taken from Tenten, with a fork.

"Well they can get over it. Nothing's going to go wrong. I don't get why people don't trust me," he mumbled. I sight and rolled my eyes drinking the water from the water bottle I'd brought from home.

The lunch room went quiet suddenly as I saw heads turn towards the cafeteria entrance. People were standing up to get a better look at the people stand there, and I leaned back in the chair to see. Standing with everyone's eyes on her, looking like she didn't really know what to do, was a very red eyed Ino and two of her only friends left, Shino and Choji. They stood there looking awkward before Ino said something to Choji and she and Shino left the room. The other students waited until she'd gone before starting their conversations back up again.

I watched as Choji walked into the lunch line looking around franticly. His search stopped when he reached our table, and I saw his eyes land on Gaara. I glanced over at Gaara, who nodded at him, and then back a Choji who smiled weakly and turned back to face the front of the line. I turned and looked back at Gaara. "What was that?" I asked him raising an eyebrow.

"What was what?" he asked me standing up and throwing his garbage away.

"That nod you gave him," I said as he sat back down. He just shrugged. I turned to Naruto and Sasuke for answers, but they averted their eyes and started a conversation quickly with Lee. I let out a sigh. This was going to be another long week.


	51. Bye

**Temari P.O.V.**

I sat there staring at Sasori. I didn't understand why he needed to hear this all of a sudden. My voice was trapped in my throat as Sasori stared back at me. "I knew you couldn't say it," he said in a low growl. "You're leading him on."

"No," I said quickly. "I just...I..."

The door opened and I jumped looking up to see three other boys walking into the room, Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara. They stopped inside the doorway and looked at us. Kisame seemed a little disappointed, Itachi looked uncaring like he usually did, and Deidara looked a little panicked. "Why were you yelling?" Deidara asked looking at me.

"How do you know it was her, for all we know Sasori could have a girly yell," Kisame said smirking. Sasori glared at him.

"Oh shut up Kisame," Deidara snapped, glaring too before turning to look back down the aisle at me.

"It was nothing, Sasori was just being a jerk like usual," I told him, my throat hurting a little. Sasori turned his glare on me now.

"You're the one being a jerk," Sasori told me. We glared intensely at each other for a few seconds before Itachi walked between us.

"That's enough," he said. "Sasori get up, we need to get this practise started." Sasori pealed his glare away from me slowly, and stood up fallowing Itachi and Kisame over to the small stage. Deidara came over to me.

"Is anything wrong?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"No, why?" I asked him.

"Well you don't usually come up here, so I was wondering if something happened," he told him.

"Oh, well I'm just a little mad at Gaara, it's nothing really," I lied to him. It was strange. I didn't feel safe telling Deidara why I was mad at Gaara or that it actually was a big deal. In fact I hadn't really told him the truth about a lot of things. Like that I was an orphan living on my own, or that Sasuke had been the one to kill Sakura. I'd told other people, but I didn't linger on these thoughts as Deidara gave me a slight frown and went on stage to practise.

**Gaara P.O.V.**

The bell range for lunch to be over and I headed with Naruto and Sasuke quickly up to class. We were going to get there as early as we could to talk to Choji for a while if he'd been ditched again. When we got to the classroom the door was open, and we entered the room happy to see Choji sitting in it already. We put our bags down at our table and went over to him. "What was Ino like when you went back to her?" I asked holding back a smirk.

"She was just really upset and then took some food from me, and Shino and her left. They`ve been ignoring me more lately. I think she either thinks I helped with the rumour, or I believe it. She isn`t talking to me now," Choji said with a frown. "Sorry, I don't think I can be of much more help." I let out a small sigh, but Naruto talked before I could say anything.

"It's ok buddy, you have a spot with us. We know you're not a bad guy," he told him smiling. Choji smiled back.

"Thanks," he said. "But I know they're plotting something big now, I just don't know what. They won't tell me."

"Its fine, we'll figure it out eventually," I told him as the bell rang for classes to start. Naruto, Sasuke and I went quickly back over to our table and sat down acting as if we'd been ignoring Choji's presence the whole time.

**Temari P.O.V.**

I walked out of the music room with Deidara, behind his friends. Deidara had decided to walk me to class. When his friends were out of earshot he looked over at me with a frown. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?" he asked me. I looked up at him with a smile.

"Yeah, it's just Gaara, it's nothing new," I told him. He looked away from me nodding.

"So what were you and Sasori talking about that got you both so mad?" he asked sounding really concerned.

"He was just being a jerk, kind of like what he was like during the band tour," I told him with a shrug, "It's really nothing to worry about." Deidara sighed.

"You know you don't have to lie to me, I want to help," he told him. "Or at least try to help." He looked and sounded a little hurt now, and I looked down at the floor biting my lip.

"I know you do, but you don't need to get involved in these things. I don't _want_ you to get involved. If you try to help something might happen that would really hurt you," I told him in almost a whisper looking back up at him. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"What do you mean something might happen that would really hurt me?" he asked. I took a deep breath and sighed.

"There are just some things that have been happening and I don't think it would be good for you to get involved in it. I'm not really involved in it, but since Gaara's my brother I have to be involved a little. But you don't have to be," I told him. He gave me a look of confusion as we stopped outside my classroom. "Look, don't worry about it. We're figuring things out and soon it won't even matter what's going on anymore," I told him. Deidara just shook his head.

"Fine, I'll see you later then," he said turning and walking away.

"Bye..." I said just barely enough for him to hear.

* * *

**Sorry guys, I think this is the worst/most rushed chapter I've ever wrote :S. I'll try to be better next time.**


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